#i can't believe i wrote this

[red-dead-sakharine]

Tickles

gn!tav, RaphaelPOV, humor, sfw until Haarlep shows up, ace, body worship Cover art by the wonderful @octarinecat!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 & 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

"And what did-ihihihihi!" he paused, confused. He looked down at Korrilla, who was just reporting to him. She stared at him with a bewildered expression, "Boss?"

"Yes? I don't-teeheeheeheehee!" he clutched his side, confused, irritated. What was this? What was- "Hhhhahahaha!" the laughter escaped him, despite his best efforts. It felt like something was poking his side. It was irritating. It was... it was.... "Heeheehihihihihi!" he giggled. This was embarrassing - he hated it!

Korrilla stared at him wide-eyed, then looked around. Searching for someone who might be casting a spell - but there was nobody nearby. They were alone in the devil's den. "Eeheeheeheehihihihi!" his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, snickering and giggling. He couldn't help himself. This was ridiculous! What in the hells was going on!? He flinched involuntarily as he felt his side poked particularly hard, and another laugh escaped him.

He looked at the dwarf and she looked at him - it hit them both at the same time: "Haarlep", they said in unison. Followed by another particularly strong giggle from Raphael.

"Go and stop, whatever he'sheeheeheeheeheehee!" He screamed in rage at the involuntarily giggles.

"I got it, boss." Korrilla assured him and vanished.

The minutes following dragged on like an eternity, interspersed with soft giggles and violent laughter, so debilitating that it left him prone on the floor.

"I'm going to kihihihihihihill him!" he screamed in rage, not even able to utter a threat without being interrupted by laughter.

What was taking Korrilla so long!? His sides hurt. After some time Korrilla appeared again,... smirking?

"What are you-hoohoohihihihihihihi! AHHRR! What have you been doing!? You didn't fix it!" He would've lashed out, if he'd been able to get up for long enough.

"I am very, very sorry, boss." Korrilla exclaimed, walking over to him, "I fear you'll have to see for yourself." she offered herself to help him up, and he looked at her with murder in his eyes. Then he giggled like a little school girl and dismayed.

"GRAH fine! Bring me to him!" he demanded, and used her shoulder to push himself up, then he doubled over in another fit of laughter.

One enlarge spell later, the dwarf was just tall enough to be a serviceable crutch, as they teleported back to the House of Hope. Never before had the walk from the entrance, to his boudoir felt so long. They had to stop multiple times, because his knees gave in, as another strong attack of giggles befell him.

"I'm going to kill Haarlep and whoever he's with!" he growled ...and snickered.

After an excruciatingly long walk, they finally reached the boudoir. Rounding the pool counter-clockwise, he noticed a few figures standing to the left near the bed. And they noticed him.

"Well, here he is. It was nice, knowing you!" he heard the vampire spawn's voice from across the pool. "Chk! I hope this was worth it." the githyanki's voice added. Then he saw the gathered companions hurry towards the exit, keeping the pool between him and them.

That's right, he thought, the moment I have control over my body again, I'll shred you all to pieces! Run as fast as you can! His inner thoughts were disrupted by another silly giggle, and he growled in rage.

"There you are. Finally!" Tav was straddling Haarlep on top of the large bed. An impish smile on their face, Haarlep below them with tears of laughter in their eyes and a big smile on their face. They were still clothed, and the incubus was still wearing their leathers.

Raphael's face was the opposite of Haarlep's. Red from anger - and laughter - contorted in rage to a furious grimace. He let go of Korrilla and stood up tall to stare Tav down. They smiled at him mischievously and poked into Haarlep's side. Haarlep snickered, Raphael flinched with a grin. No! This was not what he wanted to be doing! He hated not having control over his body. These involuntary happy noises coming from his own mouth made him sick!

"Cut this out at once!" he demanded.

He could see Haarlep's tail swish across the bed in excitement. Just you wait, he thought, you're in just as much trouble as they are!

"Or what?" Tav replied, grinning from ear to ear and poked Haarlep's side again several times. Both, the incubus and Raphael started snickering.

"STOP!" Raphael commanded in between giggles, but Tav didn't listen. His knees were buckling again and he ended up on the ground, clutching his side. Korrilla shuffled away from him and the bed, towards the exit. Not leaving entirely, but she got out of the danger zone for now.

Eventually Tav stopped, looking back to him as he sat on the ground. Clutching his side in a hopeless attempt of stopping the tickles. But it wasn't his body that was being tickled. He's never felt so embarrassed, so powerless, so... helpless. He tried to catch his breath and glared at Tav with all the fury of the nine hells. He's going to flay that grin off their face for this humiliation!

"Alright. You don't like being tickled, I get it." they eventually said, as if it hadn't been obvious before, "What about this?" He inhaled to tell them to stop whatever they were planning to do, but before he could say something, Tav bent down over Haarlep and gently sucked on one of his nipples. Raphael took a shuddered breath. No! He would not be manipulated like that! He got ready to push himself up but froze when he saw - felt - Tav's hands run gently across Haarlep's - his - chest. Lovingly. Adoringly. Kisses followed - from one nipple, across the chest to the other. Now this one was being loved, gently sucked. Caressed by Tav's tongue. Raphael couldn't get himself to stand up. Haarlep wriggled slightly underneath the mortal intruder, clearly enjoying themself.

This wasn't right. He shouldn't be enjoying this! He hated this! He hated being manipulated. His body being misused like this. Never mind, that he had thought of Tav in this manner before. But he should be the one initiating. Not Tav. Not that filthy creature Haarlep. He felt Tav's hands caressing his sides - no more tickles, only love. And kisses trail down his chest towards his bellybutton. His brows pulled together and he leaned back involuntarily, enjoying the sensation. And then it stopped. He blinked to refocus, and looked to Tav and Haarlep on the bed. That stupid mortal was looking at him, smiling. They'd seen that he enjoyed this. He felt exposed.

"You know," Tav began, "the tickles were just meant to get you to come here. Because," they got off Haarlep and sat beside them on the bed, facing Raphael, "I'd much rather be doing this with the real thing." Raphael shuddered slightly. He wanted them for a long while now, though he's been hiding it behind flirtations that were too obvious, too over the top, to be taken as genuine. He never expected that his favorite misadventurer would actually think of him like this. Think of him the way he thought of them.

He pushed himself up and began moving towards the bed. Haarlep crawled up into a sitting position, grinning with mischief. He shot the incubus a death glare. It got the point across and Haarlep slid off the bed and moved towards the exit. "Have fun," they whispered as they passed Raphael, who just growled in response.

Both the incubus and Korrilla made themselves scarce now, to leave the other two to their devices. They knew Raphael wanted, nay, needed this. He had been talking about Tav nonstop, after all.

"I should flay you alive for your insolence," Raphael growled as he came to a stop before the bed. "Then I wouldn't be able to worship you, though." Tav replied matter-of-factly, then added "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to come here." Raphael wrinkled his nose in anger. He wanted to scoff and be angry, but he couldn't quite manage. Not with Tav sitting on his bed in front of him. "Worship me?" he echoed, raising a brow in question. Tav simply pat the bed next to them in response.

[mood music]

He hesitated. He didn't want to relinquish control - ignoring the fact that he never had it in this situation. After a moment, he relented and climbed on the bed where Haarlep had been before. Tav smiled at him and his insides melted. Damn this stupid mortal! His frustrated thoughts dispersed into the void when Tav's hands appeared on his shoulders. They had crawled up behind him and their arms were snaking their way from his shoulders to his chest. Wrapping him in their embrace as they found the buttons of his doublet and started opening them. Slowly, one by one. It was exciting and agonizing at the same time. He wished they'd hurry up, but he didn't voice it. He just closed his eyes, feeling Tav's chest press against his back, and their arms around him, and their hands working their way through the buttons down his chest.

The doublet came off, then the shirt. Kisses on the back of his neck. He got goosebumps and cursed that his body was betraying him like this. He could feel Tav's smile as they kissed him again, and he knew they noticed. They trailed kisses along his shoulders and down his shoulder blades; their hands gently roaming across his chest, his belly, his sides. This was nothing like what Haarlep did to him. Haarlep would do foreplay if commanded to, but it was never with love nor care. This... this felt different. He felt... appreciated.

The bed shifted and he opened his eyes to see Tav crawl in front of him now. Hands on his chest, on his side. Kisses in the nape of his neck, on his chest. They ran their nose through the fluff of hair on his chest. He sighed. Damnit, he didn't mean to! More kisses on his chest. His nipples - o they were being spoiled. Sucked and caressed with a tongue. Not like Haarlep. Not rough and bitey and angry. This was unlike anything he knew. This was soft and caring and wonderful. His brows drew together again and he lifted his head involuntarily. This was nice. He felt appreciated. Kisses on his sides - where the annoying tickles had been before - yes good. An apology to his sensitive flanks. He accepted it. Kisses snaking towards his bellybutton again. He couldn't help but lift a hand to run it through Tav's hair. Soft. So soft. More kisses. He felt good.

Kisses up his chest again, paying taxes to his nipples in passing, going further up. Kisses on his neck again. He moaned. Gods be damned, he didn't mean to! A nibble on his ear, his breath hitched.

"Do you trust me?"

He nodded. Should he? His mind was fuzzy. He wanted more. More worship. That's what they called it, right?

He felt the buckle of his belt open, felt his fly unbutton. He opened one eye, looked at Tav. They gently pushed him to the side and onto his belly, sprawled across the bed. He was confused, but complied.

His pants went down. Why was he letting himself be exposed like this? He should be the one in control! He should be the one- hands on his bum. He paused. A kiss on his right butt cheek. He let his head drop onto the bed. A kiss on the left. Hands caressing his rear lovingly. He was dead and this was heaven.

More kisses up and down his butt. Then up his spine. He shuddered. Loving hands caressing his back. Kisses on his shoulders again. He could feel Tav's body brush against his rear, their legs against his, as they loomed over him. Worshiped him. Kisses up the back of his neck. A hand in his hair. He hummed in pleasure. A kiss on his cheek. He felt hot. He was sure he was blushing. Damn his body. Damn this mortal! He never felt like this with Haarlep.

Hands gently running over his torso. Another gentle kiss on his temple. He stifled a sigh. Hands trailing down his back again. Stroking his butt. Stroking his thighs. Kisses following them. A gentle lick on his right butt cheek. He shivered. What was this mortal doing to him. His little mouse. His little-- Another lick. His mind flew away to someplace else. More kisses on his rear. Loving. Caring. Not rough. Not savage with lust. Just affection. Not like Haarlep. Not possessive. Not with a single goal in mind. He grabbed the sheets, balled his fists and shuddered. This was all too much. Too much gentleness. Violence he knew. Rough he could handle. Bites and scratches and hungry humping, he knew. That's all he knew. Not this. Not these hands that stroked his body like it was a holy icon to be praised. Another kiss between his shoulder blades. Another moan escaped him. He pushed his face into the bedding, embarrassed, exposed. He should kill Tav for seeing him like this. Causing him to be like this. A hand in his hair again. A kiss on his temple. "Shhh," they whispered in his ear, and stroked his hair. Another kiss. So loving. So caring. He didn't know what to do with this affection. This gentleness. "I can't touch your wings, when you're in human form." a barely audible whisper in his other ear. He whined into the bedding in exasperation. Most mortals shied away from his true form. Were scared of it - found it monstrous. But his little mouse wanted to see it. Love it. He acquiesced and relinquished his human guise. He felt Tav dodge the wings as they appeared.

"Magnificent," he heard them breathe in awe. That's right, he thought, I am. Hands on his back. His thoughts flew away again. The hands felt smaller, now that he was bigger. But they felt just as good. As kind. They roamed up his back and towards his wings. Kisses following them up his spine again. At the base of his wings.

He felt the bed shift with Tav's weight as they climbed off him and to one side. Caring hands slowly ran along his wing. From the base up to where the joints connected, then down on the outermost spine. He shuddered at the gentle touch. It was wonderful. Too wonderful. It made him feel fuzzy. He stretched his other wing out to compensate. Kisses on his wings. He moaned. More kisses followed. Up and down the spines. Gentle hands stroking the membrane in between. This was bliss. This was rapture.

The weight in the bed shifted again, and he felt hands on his other wing. He was being tortured. Tortured with love. He didn't know what to do with it. With the affection. It was maddening and wonderful.

The hands and kisses repeated their ministrations on this wing, then moved towards his torso again. Gently wandering down his back. Like they couldn't just move to another place without touching and loving every bit of his body between here and there. A kiss on the base of his tail. He gasped, clutching the sheets more tightly. The reaction was not lost on his worshiper. Another kiss. Lips gliding down his tail, hands stroking it, kisses following it. A gentle lick. His body shook with pleasure. He couldn't think anymore. His brain had left his body. More gentle kisses. Another lick further down the tail. Hands gently kneading his tail muscles. He moaned again. He didn't care. A kiss at the very tip of his tail. A gentle suck. He was sure this wasn't reality anymore. Lips and hands working their way back up to the base of his tail, then down next to it. Another kiss on his right butt cheek. Then on his left. Hands roaming over his body. He was shivering uncontrollably now. He didn't know what to do with all these wonderful feelings. He wished someone would punch him. He knew what to do with pain. He didn't know what to do with love. Tav sank onto the bed next to him. A hand still caressing his back. He looked up - looked at them. His little mouse. They were lying next to him, head propped up with one hand, while the other was still stroking his back. He looked at them and he was powerless. They smiled at him and leaned in. A kiss on his forehead. On his nose. On his cheek. On his lips.

He could cry from bliss.

He's never been loved like this.

👉 Part 2

#bg3 #raphael #haarlep #fanfiction #gif #ace #body worship #I dunno if tickles have been done before #raphael's cute when he laughs genuinely and he hates it #this ran away with me a bit #I can't believe I wrote this #look - the body worship was necessary as apology for the tickles! #this was horribly self-indulgent forgive me #raphael bg3 #bg3 raphael #baldur's gate 3 raphael #raphael baldur's gate 3 #raphael the cambion #rds #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3

[smolvenger]

Greetings bestie 💖🫡

Requesting a Professor Hiddles story (you can choose what subject he's teaching) where he already has this friendly type of dynamic w/ Reader and she's nervous about finals week and he goes "Tell you what, if you ace all your exams I'll take you out to dinner. Anything you want."

…And then (surprise surprise) she wants to skip all that because she just wants him 🫠🫠

I shall leave spice level entirely up to you 😏

And for some ✨inspiration✨…

Hi bestie! Thank you for requesting a Prof! Tom fic! I loved writing it!

Exam Aid (Prof! Tom Hiddleston x Student! Reader)

Summary: When finals have gotten you down, your Shakespeare professor offers some help...and motivation...

Word Count: 5939 (woof)

Warnings: Eventual Smut at the end! NSFW! (Reader is a college student ((if undergrad or graduate that's up to you)) so she's over 18. Dom! Prof Hiddles and Sub! Reader, dirty talk, vaginal fingering, doggy style, doing it in an office. It's super filthy when it gets there, so be warned), mentions of anxiety and insomnia and mental health. My Shakespeare tastes and my IRL English Major college experiences are used and referenced bc it's my indulgent fic too and I do what I want. Some hurt/comfort. Prof Hiddles being both a dom and silly goofy in one fic bc get you a man who can do both.

Taglist: @huntress-artemiss@ijuststareatstuffhereok89@evelyn-kingsley@jennyggggrrr@five-miles-over@fictive-sl0th@ladycamillewrites@villainousshakespeare@holdmytesseract (smut starts at "I'm good at more than just kissing" and ends at "He looked at you with a sweet smile", for your comfort, bestie) @eleniblue@twhxhck@lokisgoodgirl@lovelysizzlingbluebird@raqnarokr@holymultiplefandomsbatman@michelleleewise@wolfsmom1@cheekyscamp@mochie85@muddyorbsblr

 It wasn’t the actual week of finals. Oh no, you knew how the drill would go. It was the month or week before. It would be assigned. Every last essay thrown on top of you. And with professors without a touch of reality for students.

“Who the hell has time to read and finish A Tale of Two Cities in two days?!” you thought as you shoved your unabridged copy of Dickens in your bag. Promising yourself to get through as much as you can and then read the Sparknotes summary in the morning. You weren’t immune to it.

Throughout your time in college, you had many a professor. Professors came in varieties. There were creative writing professors who ranged from tiny women who would assign short stories that made no sense to blonde men with glasses and toothy grins who loved it when their male classmates wrote exploitative abuse. Mythology professors with Greek accents and tans. Then there were the mixed bag of literature professors. 

The previous professor of the literature survey for Shakespeare also taught the American Literature Survey course. He was Dr. Rutledge. He wasn’t from this year, or even this reality. Either a wise old sage or a kooky scientist from the movie. He had long, thin grey hair, and wore bow ties with black glasses and thick tweed jackets. He smiled and would speak for hours in a tone half sarcastic, half serious. You knew he would go back home and cozy up with a whole copy of Moby Dick next to a fireplace as he sipped on tea or even scotch if he was feeling adventurous. When he brought up sex and seduction with the Scarlet Letter it was the equivalent of hearing a nun confess her last orgy. 

So when you registered this year for the Shakespeare course, that was the sight you were expecting.

Since the first day in walked someone different. He may have been wearing a suit, but he definitely was not Dr. Rutledge. 

Everyone was gossiping and chattering and sipping on their iced coffees when they fell silent. Every single back stood up straighter at the sight of him. Young, tall, virile. Long, curly reddish blonde hair. A goatee and glasses to show his maturity. Sharp suits that framed every inch of his lean but fit body. Eyes and cheekbones to die for. A jaw so straight it made the men taking the class question if they were.

No introduction of “hi, I’m-” No icebreaker games. He only stepped forward, to his podium. Held onto it, everyone leaned forward. He had all of you in the palm of his hand. Then, with his clear, bright baritone voice, he spoke-

“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York…”

His voice…something about it. So…rich…Goddammit, he picked that one, the opening speech of Richard the Third. If he picked Romeo’s balcony declaration or something like that, you would be in even more danger of falling onto the floor in a horny heap of suppressed yearning. But no…it was Richard the Third’s monolgoue. Of all the characters he was playing, of all the characters in the Shakespeare canon you could thirst after, it was fucking Richard the Third. Definitely not known as a hunk or even a likable person according to canon. 

But the way he said it- threatening, villainous even. He leaned in and confessed his true feelings about the royal family and his plot to destroy them and rule over them. You could already feel something stirring inside you. And it was eight am in the morning. 

As he finished the monologue, speaking it so naturally it was as if it were his own words, the class burst into applause.

With a casual bow, brushing his curly blonde-red hair out of his face, he introduced himself.

“Hello class- good morning. I’m your professor- Professor Hiddleston, and I will make this as fun and engaging as a morning class on Shakespeare can be.”

From then on, you enjoyed the class. You tackled it on- after all, you wanted to have some fun. You loved Shakespeare. But Professor Thomas Hiddleston…was a bonus. Thank the lord he wore suits. And if not suits, white shirts with the sleeves rolled up. He might as well as taken it off for you. 

You went through various sonnets. Then explored the poetry- Aphrodite and Lucretia. Then the plays. Even plays that the undergrads thought the most dull he made intriguing. He made everything clear with Shakespeare’s life too himself- how the Bard lost a son named Hamlet. How Shakespeare was accustomed to the great courts and low brothels Prince Hal tasted both of. 

When theatres did productions or there was the odd movie adaptation in theatres, everyone went to go see it. Then he had a showing of lesser-known film adaptations. Showing how Orson Welles framed the shot of Falstaff to make the large knight seem even larger. The Bollywood Othello where at long, long last Emilia survived and she was the one to kill Iago, much to the class’s cheering.

“Are there any other movies we should watch?” he asked.

One kid shot up and suggested Shakespeare in Love. He raised an eyebrow.

“ It was not Shakespeare’s invention to have the lovers die. Romeo and Juliet was a a known story in Elizabethan era England and everyone knew back then that the lovers died. It’s like someone just suggesting that Superman comes from another planet- we all know he does. Not  because of him having an illicit affair as his poor wife was left to raise their surviving children far off and alone!”

“What about Anonymous!?” cried one kid, trying to be cool.

He let out a deep, ragged sigh. 

“There is more than enough evidence to suggest Shakespeare wrote the plays. Every criticism says he can’t write it because he was uneducated. However, if you look, there are hysterical inaccuracies in his geography And no one questions the authorship of Maya Angelou because of her lack of formal education! Just because he was not a nobleman, does not mean he was not aware of things as you are! Every Anti-Stratfordian argument boils down to classicism.” 

It was the best class you took. Having him teach definitely helped. And he would invite people for coffee talks and of course, you would bolt to join. Yet you enjoyed it- seeing him so relaxed. Warm in his coat as everyone circled around to talk about plays they knew of but hadn’t read in this class.

“Well- all of us went through our high schools. We all read Romeo and Juliet- what do you think?” he questioned them one autumnal day. 

“They’re just brats! Ugh!” one guy snarled out.

That you couldn’t take. You set down your drink, glaring at him. 

“They’re not!” you cried out passionately.

Eyes turned forward to you. You wished youcould have slapped him, but you stopped.

“Well, Y/N…why do you think that? Why are they not brats?” the professor asked. 

“I think…the plays aren’t meant to be realistic. Of course, they fall in love immediately- so do Rosamund and Orlando but no one calls them brats! It’s not Romeo and Juliet who get everyone killed! It’s not their love that hurts anyone- it’s just the feud and Paris l thinking he is entitled to Juliet’s body after her supposed death! No one knows about them- only they, the nurse, and the priest know about it! They’re innocent! Juliet calls Romeo her ‘friend!” Her one and only friend! That’s how alone she is without him! They are just innocent victims of a greater scheme. Hamlet and Othello fall prey to their own flaws- but Romeo and Juliet are just two young kids caught in the crossfire!”

You didn’t realize how passionate you were. You felt your face get hot with embarrassment as the class gaped at you. But the Professor was nodding his head. He gave you a small smile as you sat down.

“That was…very good. Next time, use the text and a few sources, and you have yourself a good essay, Y/N,” Professor Hiddleston said.

You liked how he challenged you. He would only want you to do better. He wouldn’t blow smoke up your ass, but he would support you. You would ask after each other. He told you a bit about his life- about how much there was to grade. How he got the job. Little things- but little things only added up to how much you liked him. Even…even…no, you couldn’t you would never say it aloud. But your bedtime fantasies…you were more than mere friends…but that was only for fantasies. 

You tried to let those regular Shakespeare classes comfort you. But finals were taking a toll on your sleep, and your health. You were so wound up and stressed, trying to read and perfect essays that you had trouble going to bed. Your brain kept churning- unable to think of anything else but your work. You couldn’t realx- you worked so hard to get into this school, this degree. If you didn’t pass then…you would be a failure and all that work to go to this school would be for nothing. 

At least after a sleepless night, you had something to look forward to- to distract yourself. But even lately in those classes, you curled into yourself. The heaviness of your exhaustion and the jolt of your anxiety over finals in an unending cycle of misery. You were so…tired…and done…and drained…you knew it would pass with time…

After class, as everyone filed out, Professor Hiddleston walked over to where you slowly gathered your things. He held out a hand to you.

“What is it, Y/N? You’re usually smiling and happy here. But you seem very grave lately…has something happened?”

You shook your head.

“Not really just…finals…I want to do well. I can’t get C’s- I want to do them perfectly! I want to! I want this degree! Now I…I’m so scared of failing…I wanted this school so much, now I…I…” you began to mutter.

You felt tears wriggling out of your eyes, and your breath shook as you uselessly tried to hold them back. He handed you tissues from his coat pocket. You felt like a trashbag- crying in front of this fucking Greek God. But he looked at you kindly. You wiped your eyes. Snot threatened to release from crying and you blew your nose. Ugh, he would think you were especially gross after that. But his gentle smile did not change. You wrapped up the tissues and tossed them aside- then he handed you the little plastic package.

“Is it mansplaining if I give you some advice?” he asked.

“Oh, no…it’s not…” you said. 

“Break your studies apart, Y/N. Ten little minutes at a time. A break. Then ten more. If you take time to focus, it will help you. Or if you make it fun and play music or make little drawings, then you have a picture as well…I know it means a lot…but if you rest, you will recover…and you must think smart, not hard,” he advised.

“Okay…” you nodded.

“Y/N, there are counselors here…they will help you and you don’t have to pay anything. They; 've helped me, and so many others, they should help you…” he suggested. He got out pamphlets from a corner of his desk to give to you. 

“I’ll see one…Why are you so kind to me?” you asked impulsively, looking up.

He put his hands in his pockets, glancing down, and then back up.

“If I may be frank, you remind me so much of myself when I was a student. I had a thesis I had to write on Shakespeare’s problem plays…and it consumed me. I wish someone had given me that advice at that time-I only want you to suffer a little less. Don’t be so hard on yourself- like I was on me…”

You nodded up at him, adjusting the straps of your bag and gathering your things in your arms. 

 “And I’ll..I’ll make it fun- I’ll think of a reward for after…” you said.

He placed his hands in front of him, his lips tightening, and then in a rushed exhale, he spoke. 

“Y/N…how would you…you…you like dinner? After finals?”

You perked your head up. Was this real? You blinked at him, saying nothing.

“Y/N…make me a bet…Go to counseling, break apart your studying, get through your finals, and do as well as you can…and I will take you out to dinner, how does that sound?” he asked.

You smiled at him, your heart beating fast. But yet…you were touched. You put a hand over your chest and released an exhale.

“Professor that…that sounds wonderful…” you answered.

“Ah, excellent. Now- is that a deal?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

You gave him a smile and a small laugh.

“It’s a deal,” you replied.

You managed to get a counseling session scheduled for tomorrow. You went inside, sat, met the kind therapist, and smiled as you vented and cried out your feelings. When you went back to where you lived and spent your emotions, you crashed onto the bed. It was the best nap you had ever taken. 

You followed his advice. You broke down studying or writing essays and researching. You took more breaks. You had made flashcards with doodles for the tests and were catching on quickly. Your research was more fruitful and your essays were getting better in your eyes. You found you slept a bit better at night.

Each day as you sat in at 8 am, the Professor would smile at you and nod. You felt more like yourself again despite the looming deadlines. And they didn’t seem like a matter of life or death anymore. 

Everyone knows the week before finals are hell. To study and work so much with no time off from usual classes. But… you would still miss that 8 a.m. Shakespeare survey- and the handsome professor in his suits.

“Y/N, don’t be scared- you will be phenomenal,”  He gave you a wink that turned you into jelly.

Damn him. To think you would have dinner with him. You turned around to peek at him erasing the markerboard and glimpsing his curved bum,  how his hair curled at the back, and his broad back.

Yeah, now that was motivation to do well.

You studied and wrote with enthusiasm. You completed it all in due time. The essays were to your satisfaction.  When you settled at night, you cuddled his pillow. Remembering his smell- be it his shampoo or cologne, the mild, citrus scent. Fantasizing about him. Of dancing slowly at a formal event with you in an evening gown. Feeling his hand on your back and his head lowering down to touch your forehead. Of sharing ice cream. Being a damsel in distress for him to rescue. Then you thought of his body…. And the images changed to something naughtier. Wearing short skirts and showing up to his class. And him noticing. And lifting it up…

You conked right to sleep.

Finals week began. The entire campus knew it was stressful and went ridiculously out of their way to cheer up the students. But it was a lot of fun, you had to admit. Having dogs on campus to pet. Discounts on coffee. That Monday morning the cafeteria was packed with the free breakfast they offered. Once you brave the long lines for free food, you headed out to your first final. 

Professors, to your amusement, dotted around the campus. If they didn’t have a class to be in, they were handing little care packages while dressed in silly costumes. The sight amused you and made you smile.

Then walking up, you turned to the right and jumped at the sight with a happy, surprised gasp that became laughter. Professor Hiddleston himself wore a light, frilly tutu made for girls a quarter of his age over his pants, little costume fairy wings over his shirt,  and had a headband with little stars on top like ears. 

He turned towards you and his face turned bright pink. 

“Professor Hiddleston! What is this?!” you asked.

He opened up his arms to present his silly costume.

“We’re doing our anti-stress events! I am here to provide you with help with your stress!” he announced theatrically.

You put your hands akimbo and surveyed his costume up and down. If the class knew, they would lose it.

“And you’re doing it?!” you asked.

“Why not! I’m not a stick in the mud all the time! I can have fun!”

You laughed again.

“I should take a picture and send you to the group chat of our class!”

“I don’t see why not!”

He posed as you took a picture. 

“And how are you feeling?”

“I feel better! Much better now- I feel like I’m ready…”

“Good! It will be done soon! A bit at a time!”

He handed over a stress-free care package. Exchanging smiles, you continued by with a lighter step in your shoes. 

You went to every test outside of the pre-written essay. You knew what to do as you wrote short essays for the tests. You didn’t completely panic and wrote them as well as you could. When it came to every exam,  you felt you knew and understood the material. The week flew by. 

Sure enough, on that Friday, with shaking hands and a turning stomach, you looked up your grades. Taking in a breath right when the clock hit noon, you tapped a shaking finger on the mouse.  The link buffered on your computer to view them. Then it lit up with revelation. 

You passed them. You passed them all. In fact, you did very well. 

Your heart was racing but—you realized…you didn’t have his number. Only his email address. With the still nervous feeling…you emailed him, your professor.

“Hello Professor,

My grades were announced- and they’re all spectacular. I passed all of them. So…you made that promise…are you available for dinner?”

You sent it off. You could only ruminate for five minutes- his response was quick. 

“Of course, dear Y/N…

Here’s my number below… Meet me in my office. The parking lot isn’t far from it.”

You managed to text him immediately. You were giggling and pacing your room like a high schooler as your phone buzzed with his responses.  You re-read them as you paced about with your phone in your face. The high of your crush floating you into the clouds. You were going to go to a nice restaurant- one wasn’t finalized yet, but something nice. And that meant you had to look the part!

You were so excited. You made sure your makeup was how you liked and that your hair looked clean. You put on a part dress-one with a shorter skirt. It was too perfect not to. It was cut only a little low to show some mild cleavage. The collar was wide enough so that it showed your collarbones. It was nice, but flirtatious and romantic. It hugged you in a perfect fit while making you feel amazing and sexy. 

Sure enough, you went over to his office. The place was abandoned. All offices and buildings on the Friday of the Finals are in the early evening. You walked over and knocked on the door.

He opened the door and your heart almost stopped.

He was lovely. In his suit. His curls and that slutty goatee combed. Smelling fresh and clean. He still was in his blue suit- bringing out the blue in his eyes. Loving, beautiful.

“Ah, Y/N- please, come in,” he welcomed.

You followed suit. He closed the door. There was a second where you just looked at each other. Despite his goatee, you saw him biting his lip.

“Now, how about that dinner, Y/N…” he offered. “There’s La Gardeniera-suitable. A nice place for a special occasion as this…”

You gave him a shrug.

“I don’t care…anywhere…” you replied. 

“Anywhere? ” he asked.

He put his hands in his pocket and looked at you. It was a simple office- white and brown as many are. There was a bright window, the blinds turned over, as the setting sun’s rays fell over it. There was a small bust of Shakespeare and a pitcher with cups of water. His desk had a neat stack of papers, and annotated books all over it. Cozy and comfortable- like how he made you. 

“I just…I want to be with you…I don’t mind. Take me to a McDonalds and I won’t care…” you went on.

“Y/N…I…me?” he asked.

“Yes, you! We don’t even have to eat or…to, uh…I just…” the words were failing you and you felt your heart pick up. You looked down at the floors and then back up at him. 

“You want to…to be with me…” he walked forward curiously. But you did not retreat. Did not back away. You only met him in his blue eyes, welcoming him.

“Y/N…are you sure?” he asked.

He took a step closer. He was right before you. And you did not retreat. You met his gaze. So close. The tension between you.

“Professor Hiddleston, I am sure…I just want to be with you…anywhere…you just…make me happy…” you finally confessed.

“You make me happy too…” he murmured

He leaned forward, seeking permission. You gave a shaky nod. 

Then he kissed you.

 Something in you released. So long it was boxed up- now wild and free.  He immediately took his hands and ran them up and down you and you held onto him in the kiss. Feeling him as he deepened it with the wet sound of lips. Grabbing onto each other, releasing what had been held for so long. He released and then kissed you-again, then again. Like he was drowning and you were air. 

“Mphm- what-what were the grades?” he asked before kissing again.

You caught your breath and took a break still close to his lips. 

“Passed them. Flying colors,” you reported.

 He kissed you again, moaning into it. Then he broke it again.

“Well now…my little student…doing so well…” he rasped.

You grabbed him and heart racing you felt him kiss you. His facial hair scratched against you. He kissed you back. He backed you up.

“You’ve been…good…” he breathed, pressing you there into it. You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders. 

“Mphm- this feels…feels so nice…you’re a good kisser,” you whispered.

“I’m good at more than just kissing, my dear-”

He held you, pulling you close. He backed you to the door-holding you against him. He then reached a hand and turned over the lock. It was sealed with a click. His hands then returned to you. He cupped your cheeks, then it slid down your neck, and your chest, and then settled on your wasit. 

“I’ve…I’ve…God, I’ve wanted you so much…I…I don’t know if I…think I can…hold back…my dear, I-I-if you’re not…not ready, I’ll-”

“I don’t want to leave yet- let’s wait for dinner-take me. Fuck me here, now,” you begged. 

You didn’t need to say any more than that.  ou shuddered. He found your skirt and touched your leg, lifting it up. Feeling your skin, cold from exposure.

“All this…is all for me now…”

His hand reached over your leg. His long fingers possessively gripped each bit of flesh. Enjoying it- feeling you for the first time. Treasuring you and making his mark- you were his and his alone. He wrapped an arm around you and lifted you up onto that door. You let out a sound He then took your leg and guided it to wrap around his waist, holding onto him. You were so dripping wet you could feel his pants brushing your soaked panties. He held you easily-so, so easily. Just muscle and wall holding you and keeping you in place. He managed to lift you up- keeping you up with how pressed he was to you. How warm. Keeping him on you.

Your lips crashed again. You kept touching him. One hand finally touching his hair- his beautiful, long curls. The other kissing into him. In his suit, he began to ground against you now that you had nowhere to go away- not that you would leave. He kissed you with tongue and fire. You wrapped your arms around him and kissed him back, wet noises and messy, desperate need.

“Tom…Tom, I-” you murmured.

He touched your chin, shushing you.

“We’re still in my office, my dear. And you will call me Professor,” he said.

He reached a hand down- feeling hte seat of your soaked panties. Smiling from teh effect already.

“Yes…yes, I will…” you breathed out. 

“Now- my little angel. She did so well…and she comes to me, so needy…so desperate-first for her finals and now for my cock-”

You held onto him, touching his tie. Pulling him up. You felt his erection stretching through his pants. The hooded eyes and soft voice, his hot breath. You gave him a smile- eager to have him. 

“I’m going to rip your clothes off and fuck you senselessly- and I want you- I never heard a thank you- I want to hear your gratitude for how I take care of you in every way…how does that sound? Too much for you?”

“It sounds wonderful for me-Professor,” you purred in response.

He wrapped an arm to help you up and carried you- legs around his waist.

. He then backed you over to his desk. He kept one by you- so close, so close. He took a hand and shoved aside the books and papers. It didn’t matter- now there was you. 

He pulled up your skirt. Desperately trying to find the zipper. Almost shaking in his long fingers. His erection seeping through his pants- he was so pent up.

“All that time. Wanting you. Feeling you near. Do you know how many nights I had to jerk off to imagine this- you! Seeing you- feeling you right there- my little beauty, angel, and siren at once.”

He shoved your dress off and down. Now in your bra and underwear. His hands went to under your straps- feeling them already- his bare flesh on your bare flesh. You were backed there.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you what?” he asked darkly.

“Th-thank you, Professor.”

He kissed you again. You were his little pet, his toy, his plaything. And you would please him- You held onto his shoulders. Grinding more into his body, He was still. Yet you heard his breaths, catching in his chest. He still remained clothed. 

Then in a rush, he gripped your bra.

“You won't need these- not with me.”

With a strength that made you gasp, He ripped your bra in half. He breasted so fast, panting like a beast. Looking down at your breasts.  Both large hands fondled them, moving them around. 

“Th-Thank you, Professor,” you whispered.

“But there’s one thing- one thing keeping me- from what I need” he growled.

He reached down, and in a second, he ripped your panties apart again in half. You gasped at the feeling. The cloth in two- uselessly falling apart.

“No bra- no panties when I see you -easier access- do you understand…I have a need for you, do you get it-”

“Yes- yes, sir.”

“Close- but not it. You forgot. And you’ll be punished.”

He turned you around, so your bare ass was shown. He immediately spanked you hard- it clapped around you. You let out a shout.

“It’s thank you-Professor.”

“Thank you Professor!” you cried out, feeling the sting. 

“And you will get it right!”

He spanked you again, harder. The momentum made you move against the desk, feeling your ass move with it. And feeling his greedy eyes all over your exposed skin.

“Th-Thank you, Professor!” you cried.

He pulled you back up but kept your back to his chest. He kissed your cheek, fondling you from behind, whispering in your ear.  

“If you don’t want another punishment-Tell me what I am-”

“You-you’re my-my-”

The words failed you. He leaned you down again and spanked you.

“You’re my professor!”

He spanked you again.

“Say it again- and say thank you-”

“Yes- yes- thank you, Professor…”

He grazed over you. Feeling you. You were catching your breath. Dripping so hard. He put his hands against your inner legs. 

“The more I do this- the more I see you, the more I’m with you, the more you- you torture me. I can’t stand it- I-I have to have you, Y/N- I have to, I have to-do you- do you want-”

You lightly turned your head over to see him and could have gasped. 

He unzipped his pants and lowered them. Already his cock was large and twitching. It leaked so much, that his precum made you shiver. It drizzled down and made a path down his leg. You clutched onto the desk, smiling and bracing yourself. 

“Yes- take me- take me on your desk, Professor…”

He smiled, and then his hand made you bend over it again. ‘

“Spread. Your. Legs.”

You were such a horny querying mess, he touched your legs so that they spread for him. Then finally, you felt him at your entrance, and inside. 

You let out a long groan- and so did he. As he got in - inch by inch. 

“Yes- yes all-ah!” you cried out as he got all of himself in you. 

He eased you in at first. Your legs again over. He gave a few gentle, experimental thrusts. It was slow, even sloppy. Each intrusion, poking you inside. You were making an appreciative groan. You ground your hips further against him. The room was hot and smelled thick with sex.

“There…you can take…take all your professor's cock, can you?” he growled.

“Yes-yes I can..”

He then made a sharp thrust inside and you cried out.

“Oh!”

He then experimented- hips rolling towards your ass. You let out sounds like you never heard yourself make. He then had a hand to keep you down. To keep you down And then he began to pick up. Slamming into you. Keeping you still, close, on him. 

“Nrg-nrgh- yes-there-fuck-there’s my-myfuck- good litlte student-nrgh-want to please me- hrng-begging-begging to-shit-yes-yes-darling-begging for me-”

You were moaning into it. Your body shakes forward and back from his thrusts. You felt yourself spiraling. Then he slowed. He leaned down and whispered into your ear. The pleasure was at a standstill, you caught your breath as you heard his hot voice right beside you.

“You have another order- cum only when I’m about to-cum when I tell you- yes?” he demanded

“Yes!”

“Yes, are you grateful!” He moved his hands to feel your arms. 

“I am- th-tahnk you, Pr-Professor.”

He went back up and began to thrust again. Slow- then medium. You let out those pornographic sounds out as he did.

“Fuck- what you do to me, darling,” he breathed out. 

He let out another gasp, his voice itching up in a groan and then back down. Then he slammed into you, letting out a loud voice. 

“Who is going to let you cum?  Who lets you cum when you’re a good girl?” he rasped. 

“My-my- fuck-professor will- will let me-cum-yes!

“Not yet- not yet-mine is-if-fuck, it’s building.-”

He spread your legs wide and entered you. Then he grabbed your hips. He began to pound into you. The desk shaking- the wall quivering. Slamming against that wall with a thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud. He whimpered your name. You clung onto it, your knuckles popping out of you.

“Yes-Yes you are-beautiful little student- you are-g-grateful- fuck.-tight-so tight- shit-”

He was so deep, just rutting into you. He was an animal. Pure fucking you into the desk You felt the itch of his suit- the deepness of it. The papers scrambling away- scratching you. The pure ecstasy of it.

“And” thrust “tell me-” thrust “tell me this”- thrust “darling-”

He laced a hand, it reached your folds. You let out a whimper. He dug around- two fingers in-already feeling you. God- you weren’t going to last. He wasn’t going to like it, but you weren’t going to last. You let out a whimper as you felt him inside you.

“What” thrust “ is it” thrust”- “what is it- good” thrust “good girls do- ”thrust

“They-they-they get to-to-to come, Professor-”

“Yes! Yes-you're at my-my limit-gods-gods- what you do to me-You’ve been good-so good- I can’t-I can’t-so cum, darling-”

He strummed you. And you let out another intense gasp. He was strumming you. His fingers making you more open, his cock in, out, in out. You felt it build- he played with your clit so much. Trying the right place, You felt it rise, but not there. And he kept thrusting. A frustration in his rasp.

“Yes- dammit- why won’t you now? Why won’t-won’t you cum?! Cum, dammit- cum- darling- fuck, fuck- god- yes, gods, I’m there…I’m getting there, cum, dammit- why won’t you cum…”

With a new fury, he pounded against you into the desk- the filthiest, most intense thing you felt. The pleasure building up you, going up, up about to be out of control. 

“I’m- I’m going to-I’m going to-I’m going to cum, professor I-I-I”

It would spiral up, yes, but you had yet to reach it. You ground your hips further, moving from his thrusts, as his fingers were there- finding you at the still of your high and just needing your brink.

“Yes- God, yes-cum, darling-I order you, your professor orders you-Yes- yes, cum, girl, dammit- do it, cum, darling- fuck, I’m about to- do it- CUM!” he deamnded like a yell.

With a last shout you cried- “PROFESSOR!” and you came.

Spiraling down from the pleasure. It broke into chills over you-your voice left you and yet your heart was racing. You could feel him gushing into you and yet you could also feel the cum from your own body between your legs, on his fingers.  He panted. He then moved you over. You saw his hair wild and arrayed. You moved it out of his face.

He looked at you with a sweet smile then took your hand and kissed it. He sat you down on a chair and took off his jacket- putting it over you like a cape. Then he went over and got you a glass of water from the pitcher. 

His voice had softened, he kept touching your face, checking for any accidental bruises or marks.

 “How are you? Are you…are you alright, Y/N? I didn’t go too…too-”

“You were perfect- it was perfect,” you replied with a smile. The water wasn’t super cold- but it was fresh. 

He let out a sigh of relief. He then cupped your cheek. 

“You should see yourself how I see you. You’re glowing. Absolutely glowing-I had only hoped you were…were happy with it…”

He looked down at the ruined bra and panties.

“I’ll buy you another…” he muttered in apology.

“Oh- an orgasm and dinner and new bra and panties? You spoil me rotten already!” you teased.

He gave you a kiss on the forehead and then he helped you back to dressing. 

“Here-we could…go back to my place and order something. At this rate, it might get late. I’m not that good of a cook-I was hoping a restaurant would impress you. I hope you don’t mind…”

“How could I, Professor?” you added, taking your hand in his. 

#fics #carrie writes #professor fics #prof! tom #prof! tom hiddleston #professor! hiddleston #professor hiddleston #tom my beloved #requests #prof! tom hiddleston x reader #professor hiddleston x you #smut #smut fanfic #smut fanfiction #tom hiddleston x reader #I can't believe I wrote this #professor hiddles #professor tom hiddleston #professor fic #professor hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston au #tom hiddleston x y/n #tom hiddleston x reader fic #tom hiddleston #loki #ao3 writer #loki fic #tom hiddelston x reader #tom hiddelston imagine #tom hiddelson

[soaringthroughthegalaxy]

Painted Pretty

Travelling through hyperspace after a mission can be boring, unless you’re sharing a ship with five men.

Pairing: All Batch x f!reader

Word count: 2.8k

Rating: NSFW 18+ MINORS DNI!!

Warnings: bukkake, lots of praise, fraternal polyandry (aka the boys are all with reader), consensual recording (it’s a hobby), light marking, cum eating, squint and you might see a breeding kink, fluffy aftercare, also squint for some bratty behaviour (one guess who that is), handjobs, fingering, unprotected PiV, oral (m!receiving and f!receiving), squint again for a possible reference to somnophilia, no clonecest.

A/N: Keeping track of five of them was a nightmare.

I will also die on the hill that Tech and Cross are tube twins.

It’s cold in the cockpit. Not entirely uncommon when travelling through hyperspace, but you have a feeling your lack of clothes isn’t helping the matter.

The durasteel floor bites into your knees, even with a standard-issue blanket cushioning them. The hum of the engine and hyperdrive fill the air, along with the ragged breathing of the five men standing around you.

“So pretty for us.” The smoky rasp of Hunter’s voice graces your ears as he admires you, eyes taking in every exposed curve of your body as he lazily pumps his cock.

You can’t help but smile sweetly, batting your lashes just a little as you reach out a hand to trail your fingers across his hipbone, raking your nails ever so teasingly down his strong, tattooed thigh. The action pulls a moan from him, a curse leaving his lips. He reaches for you, smoothing his hand across your head, tangling his fingers in your hair.

His hips flex forward, pressing the head of his cock to your lips. They part easily and you draw him in, flattening your tongue against the underside of him. He groans, gently thrusting in and out, watching the way your kiss-swollen lips from the earlier make-out session seal around him.

Slender fingers reach for you and guide your free hand, your fingers curling around the slightly longer but equally girthy cock you’re led to. Your eyes flit to the side, taking in the heat in Crosshair’s sharp eyes as you stroke him.

“Such a good girl.” The slink of the sniper's voice coils around you. The praise makes you preen, even as you continue lavishing attention to Hunter’s cock with every bob of your head.

A warm body presses to your back, your eyes falling shut for a moment at the contact, but you refuse to stop bringing pleasure to two of the men you adore. “That’s it, darling.” Tech whispers in your ear, pressing soft kisses and light bites to the juncture where your neck and shoulder meet, offering gentle encouragement even as he grinds his hard-on against your ass. He slides an arm around your waist, dexterous fingers making contact with your clit and he proceeds to trace slow but firm circles on it. You moan at the sensation, earning a grunt from Hunter as he continues to fuck your mouth.

Hunter pulls out a moment later, the lewd pop of his cock sliding from your lips echoing in the cockpit. He dips down to press a sweet kiss to your forehead before taking himself back in hand, freeing your mouth for one of his vods.

The decision of who’s next is unspoken, and Echo steps forward.

Even as your hand continues working Crosshair, even with Tech pressed against you, you look up and offer Echo a soft smile. His rescue had only been a handful of weeks ago, but he’d fallen so effortlessly into place with the rest of the squad. And now, he’d get a share of you too.

You can see a twinge of self-consciousness on his face, so you reach for him, drawing him in by the back of his metal thigh until you can slide your lips down the length of his hard cock to place a series of kisses, reassuring him silently as you take the tip in your mouth and sink on him until he hits the back of your throat.

The gasp Echo lets out is beautiful, and you watch as his eyes fall shut, hips canting on instinct as he chases the warm, wetness of your mouth.

“See. Sharing ain’t so bad, Reg.” Crosshair lets out a dark chuckle, punctuated by a hiss as you swipe your thumb across his frenulum on the upstroke, your eyes turning to him, eyebrow quirking upwards. He stares you down for a second, but you refuse to look away first, and those sinful lips of his curl into a smirk as his eyes close, narrow hips rolling with each stroke of your hand.

Echo’s hand on the top of your head pulls your attention back to him, and you hold his gaze as he slides in and out of your mouth, watching the stretch of your lips and the small pools of saliva forming in the corners of your mouth. You’re an absolute sight – and he can’t get enough of it.

A firm but steady push on your back has you rocking forward a little, and a muffled cry of delight leaves you as you feel the head of Tech’s cock press against your entrance, his fingers still playing with your clit. “I usually have a lot of patience, darling, but when you’re like this…” He trails off, laving more kisses on your throat as you feel the stretch of him pushing into you.

“Hey no fair!” Wrecker chimes in, the big man has been watching from the sidelines, large hand working his equally proportionate length. He knew you struggled to take all of him, and that you needed to work up to him, so he was usually happy to sit back and wait a little for his turn during group sessions.

Blindly your hand leaves Echo’s thigh, reaching for Wrecker. He steps closer, and your fingers curl around his cock, unable to get a full grip on him. You stroke him once, twice, and he settles a little. You moan around Echo as he continues to fuck your mouth, the sweet drag of Tech’s cock with each of his thrusts driving you insane.

“Fuck, cyar’ika. You should see yourself right now. Absolutely beautiful.” Hunter comments lowly, still jerking himself as he takes in the vision before him. Echo’s cock in your mouth, Wrecker and Crosshair in your hands, and Tech slowly taking you from behind. The streaks of light from hyperspace bathe you in the most gorgeous glow and Hunter can feel that he’s close, the scene pushing him near the edge, and from the quickened heartbeats of his vod, they all are too.

Wrecker’s grunts drown out his brothers, and you’re well-versed by now in what that means. Mouth sliding from Echo’s cock you tilt your head in Wrecker’s direction, closing your eyes, tongue out as you continue stroking him. Seconds later you feel the warm ropes of his release hit your face, catching some on your tongue, which you greedily swallow as he groans through his orgasm. Your hand shifts to run across his hip in a gentle gesture as the last few drops hit your face.

Wrecker has set off a chain reaction. The low growl from Crosshair has you turning your head the other way, eyes still closed and tongue still out. The sniper's hand weaves into your hair, keeping you close as you give him a few more strokes until he’s cumming across your face too, painting you with it. His noises of pleasure are quieter and his fingers ghost down your jawline, propping your chin up. “Let me see.” He whispers as he catches a breath.

Knowing this was his favourite part, you savour slowly opening your eyes, meeting his hawkish gaze. Delight flares in those sharp eyes of his as he looks you over, taking in every small detail of your face covered in his and Wrecker’s cum, and the irresistible colour of your eyes. Most people were unable to hold his gaze longer than a few moments, but you’d never felt anything other than safe under his intense stare.

“Beautiful,” Crosshair whispers, hand falling from your chin as he reaches for a spare rag to clean himself off.

You feel Tech moving, drawing a moan from you as he slides his cock in and out of you, pulling your attention back to the rest of them. “Whose turn is it, beloved?” He whispers in your ear between thrusts. It had caused quite a lot of tension between the brothers at first – who would get to make you cum during group sessions.

Going back over the last few sessions, your gaze slides to Hunter, the corners of your lips curving upwards. “It’s been a while, Sarge.” You purr.

“Fuck.” Hunter curses, gripping the base of himself to stop from finishing too soon.

With a wicked smile, you look up at Echo once again, giving him your full attention, pushing his hand away from his cock so you can work him. “You gonna cum for me, Echo?” You ask, lips pouting a little.

“Cyare…” He grits out, jaw clenched. He’s quick to let out a sharp gasp, hips jerking forward as his release joins the others across your face. The look of satisfaction he wears as he rides through the high makes you smile, and as much as you want to brush a finger across your cheek and taste them, you know you have to wait.

“Good boy.” You can’t help but tease, enjoying the groan Echo lets out and how his eyes close at the praise for a second. You’d had a feeling he’d like it.

It also pulls a noise from Tech, who’d momentarily stilled inside of you, too damn close for his liking. It had amused you no end to learn of the genius's love for compliments, and even if they weren’t aimed at him, you knew those two words would make his exceptional mind go blank.

A whine leaves your lips as you feel Tech pull out of you, rising to his feet and circling you. Your eyes find his behind the yellow lenses of his goggles, and for a second you glance at the small camera attached to them, shifting ever so slightly to give a better view of your body. The action pulls a small smile from him.

At first, you’d insisted he take it off, and with no question he’d left it in his kit crate. But with time you’d warmed to the idea, trusting implicitly that no one outside of the squad would see the videos. You knew he had a whole folder of content buried deep on his datapad, heavily encrypted.

Eyes skipping down his body, your tongue darts out to lick your lips as you watch his hand slide along his cock. Faintly you register the taste of the others in your mouth.

Tech crooks a finger on his free hand, and you scoot forward a little, head tipping back and eyes closing. His breath catches as he admires you, and his hand stills as his orgasm hits him, making his thighs quiver as he watches the pearly ribbons land across your lips and cheek. He reaches out, smoothing his other hand down your throat and across the small marks blooming on your shoulder before he steps back, taking a rag from his twin.

The weight of a heavy gaze lands on you, and you tip your head to search for it. Your eyes meet Hunter’s and he stalks forward, letting go of his cock long enough to grasp you, gently manoeuvring you down onto the blanket. The moment your back hits the soft surface he’s between your thighs, talented tongue lapping at your pussy while one of his hands reaches up to grasp your breasts, fingers tweaking your pebbled nipples. He won’t finish until you do.

Your hands find their way into his hair, snagging a little on his slightly askew bandana. Pleasure zips through your body, back arching as you gasp, feeling the firm press of his tongue as he licks slow lines up and down your folds, ignoring your clit for now. It’s maddening. And he damn well knows it.

“Hunter. Please.” You beg, having been riled up ever since Crosshair had pinned you to the wall of the Marauder and started this whole thing off. You feel Hunter smile against you and his tongue flicks, catching on your clit and stealing your breath as he slides two fingers into you.

He eats you out like a man starved – even though you’d woken up only two days ago to find him between your thighs. The lewd sounds of his lips and tongue devouring you makes your breath quicken, the coil building low in your belly as he drives you towards the edge.

And then he looks up. Those endless brown eyes roving up your body until he meets your gaze focused on you with determination and reverence, tongue furiously working your clit as he scissors his fingers in and out of you.

It’s too much.

Crying out his name, the coil snaps. Warmth rushes through you as you clench around his fingers, mind going blank as small tremors run through your body while you ride out the high.

Hunter’s not done with you, though.

His lips and fingers leave you and you make a noise of protest, even as you try to catch your breath. He grasps your thighs, hauls you closer, and in a fluid motion slides into you, bottoming out.

Your moans combine, the sensation of fullness you feel and the warm tightness he experiences will never get old. All eyes are on you, watching the way your body arches, the way your head tilts back and you gasp as Hunter sets a comfortable pace, pleasure building again with every drag of his cock in and out of you.

He slides a hand underneath your hips, pushing you up a little to adjust the angle, and you see stars.

His thrusts grow sloppy as you climax for the second time, thighs shaking and breath coming in pants as the pleasure sweeps you away. Although he desperately wants to finish inside your warm, wet heat, Hunter pulls out a moment later, drawing you up to rest on your elbows and forearms. A few quick strokes with his hand and he lets out a shaky groan, adding his release to the four others on you.

He winces a little, feeling over-sensitive, and releases his cock. The smile on your face is beautiful, the mischief in your eyes making him love you just that little bit more. He waits a second just to torment you before he gives the smallest nod of his head. You reach up, slowly drawing a finger across your cheek to gather as much of the mess they've made as possible, putting on a little show. Pushing their combined releases towards your mouth, you part your lips and finally taste them.

Varying noises fill the cockpit, each of your five men captivated by the sight, and if you weren’t so exhausted, you’d happily give them 20 minutes to recover before going again.

Hunter pulls you up a little more until you’re sat on your knees, and a rag appears in your peripheral. You feel boneless and sated, and holding yourself up right now is a struggle. Seeing this, Wrecker kneels behind you, letting you lean back and rest against his chest, an arm secured around your middle as Hunter carefully wipes your face clean.

Other hands caress you. Crosshair strokes down one of your arms, while Tech pushes errant strands of your hair from your face. Echo rubs soft circles on your thighs.

“So good for us, babe.” Wrecker comments, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You sink against him a little more, eyes fluttering shut as Hunter finishes cleaning your face, tossing the rag aside. The tiredness starts to settle in – as much as you loved the men around you, keeping up with all five of them was exhausting, especially post-mission.

“Absolutely perfect.” Echo chimes in as you feel the edge of a bottle of water pressed to your lips. You don’t know which of them is encouraging you to drink, but you take a few small sips, only now realising how parched you are.

The water disappears after you’ve had your fill, and you force your eyes open, spending a second looking at each of them. The openness and adoration in their expressions make your heart thump. How did you get so lucky?

“You require rest.” Tech insists, gesturing with a tilt of his head towards the bunks. Wrecker scoops you up effortlessly, and you don’t have it in you to protest. You’d hated being picked up at the beginning, but after seeing him shove assault tanks off cliffs and pry open blast doors with his bare hands, you’re no longer worried.

As you’re carried through the ship you call home, your heart warms at the gentle way Wrecker sets you down on his bunk. He draws the blanket over you, snagging Lula from nearby and offering her to you. The sweet gesture makes you laugh, and you gratefully take the little tooka doll.

Tucked up safely, your eyes close once again as each of them press kisses to your forehead. The bunk creaks a little as Tech joins you, lying down behind you. It’s cosy but you make it work. Nowhere on the ship is big enough for you all to enjoy a cuddle puddle, so they take turns holding you while you sleep. With your back to his chest, the comforting white noise of the engines humming, it doesn’t take long for sleep to draw you under.

#the bad batch x reader #bad batch x reader #tbb hunter x reader #tbb tech x reader #tbb crosshair x reader #tbb echo x reader #tbb wrecker x reader #tbb x reader #tbb x you #tbb hunter x you #tbb tech x you #tbb crosshair x you #tbb echo x you #tbb wrecker x you #I can't believe I wrote this #this is filth #kinktober

[smolbonbon]

Whether you like it or not you're stuck with me

Solar/Moon fanfiction (but can be read as platonic)

⚠️TW: past abuse, panic attacks, fever dream (But a lot of comfort and bonding)

I hope you enjoy it <3

It's already been a week after Solar and Moon rescued the smaller jester and as always, Solar was glued to the computer.

He and Moon made a lot of progress on their project, but it's not finished yet. It's one of Solar's top priorities, to make sure Lunar is safe at all times, he has to make sure nothing happens, and that Eclipse won't get their bloody hands on them again.

But for some reason, he couldn't just focus.

He felt a heavy feeling in his body like everything was just pulling him down. Also, he keeps sneezing even though he cleaned his fans a few days ago. Then there was the sore feeling in his joints.

His hands also seemed not to be able to stop shaking. It wasn't unusual that the dark Sun animatronic had problems with his body, but it was worse than usual.

Was it stress? It couldn't be. He dealt with worse, and unlike the past, this was nothing. He even has way less on his plate than before.

Actually, when was the last time he slept? Perhaps it's the need for rest that is causing this.

Solar would normally drink coffee right now, but drinks or food just don't sound appealing at the moment.

The grumpy bot shook his head and tried to focus on the monitor. It needed to be done but when he blinked at the monitor he couldn't make anything out of the numbers, and before he knew, his head was already on the desk.

Oh whatever, a little nap wouldn't hurt. Maybe sleeping for an hour will do, then he will finish it. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

When Moon was entering the daycare, he had a feeling that Solar was on the security desk.

Moon squinted his eyes and saw Solar was sleeping, but the grumpy solar bot wasn't alone.

The smaller jester was just standing in front of the security desk.

What was Ruin doing? As Ruin could feel the stare bore into him, he suddenly turned in Moon's direction and waved with a smile.

Moon would be lying if that didn't make him feel unsettled. He might look innocent, but Moon knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

Before he knew, his legs moved faster and when he opened the door, Ruin was walking towards Moon.

"Erh hello Moon! I was just about to look for you." Moon raised an eyebrow and instinctively moved to Solar.

"Yes, I'm here. What's up?" Ruin gave Moon a worried glance.

"Y-You see I was looking for Solar first and when I did, I couldn't help but notice that Solar.. uh fans are very loud. And normally, when an animatronic is in standby modus it's not usually that loud."

Moon put his hand on Solar's arm, and he noted how warm the Solar animatronic felt. Moon crouched down and softly nudged him.

"Solar wake up."

Solars fans blasted as he woke up. He groaned as he pulled himself up, and he held his head, everything was spinning.

Moon rubbed his arm gently. "You're doing alright there buddy?" 

Solar blinked at him and then looked at Ruin. "I guess."

Moon moved his hand to Solar's cheek before he knew Solar leaned in. Then Moon moved closer to him and scanned him.

"You're hot." To Solar's response, he only let out a strangled noise and blinked at him confused. 

"What?"

"You're overheating! Did you overwork yourself again?!" Moon hissed, Ruin fidgeted with his hands and just watched the interaction between them.

Solar leaned back into his chair. "No, I'm sure that I didn't. Also, I was just taking a nap." Solar rasped out.

Moon didn't ignore the fact that Solar's voice sounded strained. Moon let out a sigh as he realized what was happening.

"I think you caught the virus Ruin and I had." Solar raised a brow.

"But I didn't touch the barrier like you two did." Moon opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He was right. Solar didn't, so how did he catch it? 

Ruin cleared his throat to get their attention, with success. "Gentlemen, I don't mean to interrupt, but I have a theory about how Solar did catch it,"

Ruin looked at them with a nervous smile, as if he was embarrassed to mention it.

"perhaps the cause is through the sleepover you two had when Moon was sick."

Solar let out an embarrassed sound and Moon pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

"That explains it. Viruses can spread through electricity." Moon spoke softly, ignoring the heat growing on his faceplate.

"C'mon let's get you to bed." Moon said pushy while grabbing his hands.

Solar let out a huff as the Lunar bot pulled him up.

"Alright, alright give me a second." Solar mumbled grumpy, he knew he wouldn't be able to work, he couldn't even stand without holding on to something. 

"Ruin, Earth will be here any second. Can you tell her that I'm with Solar in his room?" Ruin stood straight and saluted. "Will do!" He replied enthusiastically.

Moon and Solar made their way to the room. Solar bumped into Moon every now and again. He tried to focus on walking in a straight line, but it didn't help that his sight was blurry.

"Want me to carry you?" Moon teased, and Solar chuckled.

"What, don't you want me to return the favor from last time?" Moon nudged Solar and rolled his eyes.

"What favor? I only carried you to your room when you passed out. It's the last thing I could've done." Moon shrugged.

"I would rather carry you before you pass out."

"I'll let you know if I want to be carried." Solar said playfully, and when they reached the theater he placed his hand on Moon's shoulder.

"But if you don't mind, I will put my hand on your shoulder, so I can walk straight."

"Sure things will go ahead." 

Solar sat down on his bed and leaned against the wall. The cold feeling of the wall made the Solar bot sigh, he closed his eyes and stretched.

There was a silence for a moment.

"You want to sleep?"

Solar thought about it. Yes, he was tired, but he didn't really want to be alone either, so he shook his head.

Asking him to stay while he sleeps sounds stupid. Moon is a busy guy, and the last thing he needs is to nurse him back to health. Even if he did that for him. Moon is not obligated to do the same thing for him.

The feeling of the mattress sinking under a new weight pulled him out of his thoughts. Solar opened his eyes a bit and saw how Moon crisscrossed next to him.

"You know you don't have to stay here if you're busy." Solar rasped out, but he felt tense at the thought of being alone.

"Nah, I'm good it can wait. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

Moon simply replied, Solar softly smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Terrifying." He said sarcastically as he felt more heat creeping into his faceplate. Moon chuckled quietly as he leaned back.

Solar felt an annoying ache in his body and his joints were stiff. He pointed to the hip flask next to Moon and Moon handed it to Solar.

"Not drinking alcohol, where are we?"

Solar barks out a laugh.

"Moon, you know there is no alcohol in this thing. But it wouldn't be such a bad idea for the pain." Moon grinned and shrugged.

"To be fair, this thing is not meant for oil."

Solar popped open the flask and dumped oil on his stiff joints. "I don't care for what it's made, as long it's handy." Moon nodded to his response.

Moon started to fidget with his hat. "Honestly, my first thought when I saw Ruin was that he did something to you. He stood in front of you and stared at you menacingly until he realized I was at the entrance of the daycare."

Moon continued to explain.

"He told me he was looking for me, but it didn't look like it." Solar frowned.

"I don't know what to think of that guy. Maybe he is just socially awkward, you know?"

Moon shrugged and glanced over to Solar. "Let's just be careful around him." Moon vocalized.

Solar nodded, and the conservation changed to a lighter topic. Solar doesn't need more to worry about at the moment.

Moon scanned him every now and again. He had to make sure Solar didn't overheat. Despite that Solar didn't tell him anything about how he felt, he could tell that he kept feeling worse. His faceplate was glowing, it almost looked like his old body and his voicebox kept glitching out.

"So that's when I told Lunar 'Soon.' " Solar chuckled at the memory, he explained to Moon what happened that made Lunar so jumpy around him.

"Take off your clothes." Moon bluntly spoke. Solar's eyes widened again, and his orange faceplate turned red.

"Huh??"

"Solar, you have to take off your shirt and pullover, so your processor doesn't overheat."

"How about you form full sentences and don't blurt out random things?"

Moon then realized his poor choice of words and let out a little 'sorry'.

Solar shook his head as he took off his shirt and pullover.

Solar grimaced at how vulnerable he felt, even though the most glamrock barely wore any clothes. Glamrock Freddy doesn't even wear pants.

Solar saw that Moon was scanning him again and let out a relieved sigh. He supposed his fans weren't going to blow out any time soon when Moon is around.

"So you're just going to do nothing to get back to Lunar?" Moon asked, remembering the last thing Solar told him about.

He shook his head and smiled, there was a twinkle in his eyes.

"Now I didn't say that, someday I will."

"Oh that's cruel. I love it, what do you have in mind?" Moon's curiosity showed as he got closer to him in the hope he'd tell him.

"To bad I won't tell you." Solar rasped out with a mischievous smile.

"Aw c'mon, I will keep my mouth shut." 

Moon frowned when Solar shrugged and stayed silent. Moon frowned.

"Believe me, when I prank him you will hear him." Solar smiled.

"That's boring." Moon pouted and Solar chuckled. "You're just impatient."

Solar doesn't recall that he fell asleep until he opened his eyes, but he doesn't recall being in another room.

When he looked around, Sun sat next to him and then the busk animatronic realized he was wearing his old clothes.

"Did you hear what I said, Eclipse?" The bright animatronic asked with a soft smile.

"What?"

"I think you spaced out there." He snickered. Solar blinked at him and cleared his throat.

"Sorry what did you say?" Sun smiled and leaned back into the orange couch.

Solar realized Sun made their mindscape look like the living room.

"Well, I said Moon and I played this weird game about babysitting a baby that is actually a demon." Sun told him excitedly and Solar smiled softly.

Why is this so familiar?

"So your plan to spend more time with Moon is working?" Sun nodded enthusiastically. "He doesn't seem to mind." 

When was the last time he saw Sun so.. happy?

"He still doesn't know about me, does he?"

Sun smile faded, and he fidgeted with his hands while he looked up to the darker Sun. 

"Erh no not yet. But I promise-, pinky promise I will! I just um don't think it's the right time yet."

Solar nodded and looked to the side.

Was he forgetting something?

Sun jumped up and held his hand out to Solar.

"I know you're worried, but I'm 100% sure everything will be okay." Solar took his hand and got up. He could tell Sun was nervous about telling Moon about him simply by his body language. But who was he to tell him that?

"Okay."

He is forgetting something.

"Come on, I want to play this game with you as well!"

"More like you play and I watch?" Solar spoke amused.

"Like you mind!" Sun blew raspberries to him and he chuckled.

"Very mature of you Sun." Solar said, amused.

Sun skipped to the door but when Solar followed him through the never, ending hallway. Sun was already going out through the door. He started to run, but the room was moving with him.

"Sun wait! Wait for me." He rasped out, the panic rising in his chest. When he finally reached the door, everything went dark.

"Sun?" Solar looked around and couldn't see anybody. 

It looked like he was inside an old laboratory. But why was he in there, and where is Moon? Did his processor give out, which is why Moon moved them to fix it?

Solar noted that he was lying on the cold table in an abandoned lab. Wasn't he just in Sun's room?

While he was looking around he noted that the lab had tubes that seemed to be very dirty and dusty. There was a singular bulb hanging right above him, but despite that, the room was dark.

The roof was leaking, spin webs in every corner and the tools which were laying on the table were way too rusty to use.

The room he was in looked way too familiar than he would have wanted.

What was he forgetting?

He started to feel his panic rise and when he sat up, his head was buzzing and there was a icky feeling in his body, like something was missing.

"Moon?"

The bask animatronic could see something moving in the back of his eye corner. Solar turned around quickly.

He felt something touching his shoulder and he gasped as he stood up from the table.

"Who's there?!" Solar yelled out, regardless of the feeling of dizziness catching up, he was ready to fight whatever was in there.

Trying to make any sense out of this, he silently waited for some response.

"Are you happy now?" A scratchy voice asked. Solar flinched, he knew exactly whose voice it was.

"What?"

"Are you happy with the life you have now? After everything you have done to us, Eclipse?" he asked in a sickening voice.

Moon.. his moon but how? He killed him, he couldn't be alive!

Solar backed to the corner as he saw a shadow walking towards him.

"You sick parasite, first off you took my brother from me, and then you shot me! And now you're just living your best life, huh?!"

"Moon.. I'm not-"

Solar's vision blurred when his Moon pulled him down to look directly at him.

Solar wanted to push him away, but he couldn't move his hands. He wanted to scream, move or anything else! Why couldn't he move?

"I should rip you apart, tear every single wire out and make sure you won't come back." Moon's voice was filled with hatred and rage. His eyes were glowing red and his pupils were turning to pinpoints.

Moon pushed him to the corner as he towered him. Solar could only see his glowing red eyes.

"I'll make sure you suffer until your last breath." Moon spoke low and with rage as he forcefully packed Solar's arm and tore him into the working tube.

"Moon- please I'll help you-"

"Shut up!" Moon interrupted him as he closed the tube.

"I'll make sure that you get what you deserve."

Solar panicked as he watched Moon walking towards the computer.

"Please, Moon, don't do it. Please!" Solar yelled with a hint of desperation.

Moon turned to him while he was pressing the button.

Solar screamed as he woke up. His hands were shaking and everything felt cramped.

Solar clutched his chest while he was hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey Solar, look at me." Moon spoke concerned as he got closer to him. Solar turned his head to him.

"Look at me, everything is okay. You are safe."

Solar's breath got slower as he slowly calmed down. Moon is stunned by how fast the sunset animatronic calmed down.

"I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't budge." Moon explained, concerned while reaching out for him. Solar flinched and Moon pulled his hand away.

"You're doing okay?" Moon asked carefully and kept his space.

Solar told him some things that had happened in his old location.

It was more his Moon that caused all the problems. Sure, that British Monty wasn't good either, but his Moon is another story. He also met that guy, when Moon stayed there to build the satellite with Solar.

"I'm.. not good." Solar sat up straight and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"I figured.. Um, you want to talk about it?" 

Solar shook his head and there was a silence. The whole cheering up wasn't Moon's thing. He didn't know how he could cheer up his friend.

Thinking about it, Earth would ask for a hug or something like that, but that involves touching and Solar doesn't seem to like that a lot.

Lunar cheered Solar up with a little puppet show last time, but there was no way he was going to do that. Solar would never let that go and tease him for the rest of his life.

Perhaps showing memes? But that wasn't really suitable at the moment.

Moon thought about it and then an idea came to his mind. Solar's drawing tablet. Maybe he would like to draw or something? The blue celestial animatronic remembered that Solar left it in the drawer by the security desk.

When he got up and walked towards the little tunnel, Solar grabbed his hand.

"Don't leave!" He yelped out and that startled the blue animatronic.

Moon focused on him and noted how panicked he looked. Moon never saw him that scared, he held his hand.

"Do you mind if I sit right next to you?"

"I don't mind."

Moon sat down next to him and watched the darker Sun animatronic.

"I actually just wanted to get your tablet." Moon spoke softly.

"Sorry. I don't know what's with me. I have been sick before, but I have never acted like that."

Moon shook his head. "You're fine. Remember when I had the virus? I couldn't be alone either and you know, normally, I even prefer being alone."

Solar nodded and when he remembered, he let out a soft laugh. "You held onto me like your life depended on it." Moon frowned and felt his faceplate heaten up.

"Shut it."

"You didn't even let me go when I took you to your bed." Solar softly teased and Moon jabbed his shoulder.

"I honestly never guessed you were a cuddle bug." Solar continued.

"I could say the same about you. When I woke up you were the one holding me."

Solar shrugged and smirked. "Well, at least I was the big spoon of us both."

Moon let out a strangled sound and covered his faceplate.

Solar laughed softly and leaned back.

"You are so easily to tease." Solar said amused, and Moon just rolled his eyes.

"If it wasn't for you being sick I would already have shoved the pillow into your face." 

"Oh, horrifying." Solar sarcastically vocalized.

Moon gave him a wry smile and hesitated to move closer to him. Solar huffed and moved his elbow to his.

"I'm not afraid of you." Solar blurted out and Moon tilted his head.

"I was just so caught up in my dream that I didn't realize it was you." The bask animatronic tried to explain.

"Do you often dream about your Sun and Moon?"

"No, just sometimes, but not all of them are nightmares. Believe it or not, I actually have a few nice memories of that place."

Moon nodded and glanced at him. Then the blue celestial animatronic drew circles in Solar's hand and closed his eyes. 

Solar smiled softly at him and then slowly leaned his head towards Moon's.

"I had many dreams about that damn Gator." Solar admitted, and Moon raised his brow.

"I'm pretty sure that Gator had a way to get in dreams because they kept trying to sell their things."

Moon barked a laugh. "How? That British Gator can't even tie a knot. Remember when.."

"Moon that Gator was smarter than they let on."

The blue crescent animatronic chuckled. "Actually you're right, our Monty is similar when it comes to that."

There was a comforting silence and slowly Solar's hand intertwined with Moon's.

They stayed like this for a while and eventually Solar felt sleepy again.

Moon noticed that Solar was about to fall asleep, so he slowly moved him to lay down. When he tucked Solar in, he was about to just sit down on the floor and wait for him to wake up.

Solar grabbed Moon's hand and looked up at him with a slight panic.

"Are you going to leave?" Moon shook his head.

"No, you are stuck with me, remember? I just didn't know if I should lay with you."

"If you don't mind?" Solar mumbled.

Moon smiled softly at him and laid down next to him.

The blue celestial turned around, his back facing Solar and Moon felt Solar's hand move to his chest. He pulled Moon towards him and held him close.

"Calling me a cuddle bug, huh?" Moon mumbled silently and laid his hands over Solar's.

He was happy to have someone like Solar.

It didn't take Moon long to fall asleep, but then again, he could sleep anywhere if the crescent animatronic wanted to.

Hours went by, it was closing time and the celestial siblings, Lunar, Sun and Earth were carrying cookies and drinks.

Moon texted Sun and the other two that Solar was sick and should come if they had time.

Sun and Moon developed a habit of watching movies if one of them is sick. Since Earth, Lunar and even Monty came along, the habit of stuck to them as well. And they had to make sure that solar is also involved in this.

Lunar was the first to zoom through the tunnel and jumped on Solar's bed.

"Solar wake up!" Lunar yelled, that startled Moon and Solar.

Lunar let out a little gasp when they realized that Moon was also there.

"Jesus Christ Lunar. Do you always have to scream when you wake us?" Moon mumbled while sitting up.

Lunar muffled his laugh while jumping off the bed.

"Hey Sun I found Moon! He was with Solar the whole time." He yelled through the tunnel.

Solar groaned and covered his faceplate in his hands.

"Can you not scream? My head is killing me." Solar mumbled grumpy.

Lunar let out a little sorry, then Sun and Earth was climbing through the tunnel.

"Moon, have you been here for the past couple of hours?" 

The bright animatronic asked while holding chips and popcorn.

"Yep here the last few hours, why?"

"Well, we actually needed your help since we had another problem with code.. blue." Sun explained and Moon groaned as he let himself fall in bed again.

"Not dealing with this now, tomorrow." He mumbled while closing his eyes again. Solar rolled his eyes, trying not to be amused by this situation.

"How are you feeling, Solar? Any better?" Earth questioned him.

And Moon seemed to be interested in the question as well, since he sat up straight and waited for his answer.

Solar thought about it and he actually felt better. His body didn't ache, and his fans were also way quieter than in the morning.

"I'm actually feeling better."

"Did Moon nurse you back to health?" Lunar asked with a teasing tone.

Moon threw a pillow at him and when it hit Lunar he let out a little 'oof'.

"I mean if it wasn't for him, I would probably still be passed out on the security desk." Solar joked, but the other celestial animatronics didn't seem to find that funny.

Solar let out a nervous laugh before a pillow hit right in his face.

"What the heck, Lunar?"

"You deserved it." Lunar simply mumbled.

"Well, I'm glad Moon found you before that happened." Earth spoke while placing the cookies down on Solar's desk.

"Actually, Ruin found him first." Moon explained and Earth tilted her head.

"I see, I mean he did tell me you both went upstairs to get some rest."

"Do you guys know where he is?" Moon asked genuinely.

Earth shook her head. "No I wanted to, but he was kinda just gone when I was looking for him."

Moon hummed.

"You look awful by the way, Solar." Lunar shot right out and Solar sighed. "Thanks, Lunar."

Lunar was about to jump on his bed again but stopped himself.

"Wait, are you contagious?"

Solar grinned at him. "Oh, very." Then he started to pretend to cough into his elbow. Lunar seemed to be unimpressed and they jumped on the bed.

"He is kinda contagious," Moon said to Lunar, and he stopped jumping and gave Moon the death stare.

Solar chuckled, as he watched Lunar stepping away from him.

"Wait, is he actually contagious?" Earth asked genuinely and Moon nodded.

"Yeah, if you touch him while he sneezes or is glitching out, the virus can spread to you," Moon explained and turned his gaze to the amused animatronic.

"Is that how you got it from Moon, Solar?" Sun asked while Lunar was stealing a cookie from Earth.

"Yep, I'm very contagious. You better watch out." Solar said sarcastically.

"So why are you sitting right next to him, brother?" Sun asked while keeping his distance. 

"Well, actually me and Ruin are now immune to it since our bodies have already experienced it and know how to kill the virus the second it gets in our body. Similar to the human immune system.. more or less." Moon interpreted.

"Soo what are we watching today?" Earth tilted her head as she glanced at Solar.

"It's my turn to pick the movie?" He questioned and Moon nodded.

"If you're sick you can choose."

Solar felt his faceplate heat up, it was just picking a damn movie. Why did that make him feel so embarrassed? Perhaps because it made him feel like he was currently the spotlight of this room.

"I don't know. I don't care what we watch." Solar mumbled.

"I mean if you don't know, we could give you some recommendations," Earth added while smiling softly.

Solar shook his head. "I know what we could watch. But, um are we going to watch it here?"

"Well, we wanted to see if you feel well enough to watch it in the theater?" Sun explained.

"Why did you bring the food in here then?" Moon questioned while watching Lunar eat the cookies.

"Every time we leave the food alone in the theater, Vegeta just steals it." Earth told him.

"You mean that creation of Monty?" Moon cringed while asking.

Earth nodded and Solar got up slowly.

"We can go to the theater." Solar rasped out while holding on Moon's shoulder.

"But I'm not going to deal with Vegeta if they come around." Solar clarified.

They brought blankets and cushions to the theater. The snacks and drinks were lying on the table and Solar watched how everyone got comfortable watching the movie.

Solar glanced over to Moon when he was sitting down next to him.

"What? I told you were stuck with me." Moon nudged him playfully and Solar smiled softly at him.

He wouldn't want it any other way.

________________________________

Homies just cuddling

..and they were roommates

#solar x moon #solarmoon #solar sams #moondrop #boy this took me so long #I'll probably upload it on a03 as well #let me know if you like it <3 #I can't believe I wrote this #I really hope the grammatic is correct (at least to a decent point) #waaaah the last time I actively wrote fanfiction was when I was like.. 13/14? And let me tell you it was CRINGE so I really hope I improved

[duamin]

Why given among all other romances

In most romcom/ romance mangas, the feelings described are what makes us like the work. But in given, I love how Kizu is showing us that loving each other clearly is not enough. Akihiko and Haruki like each other at the same time, yet their lack of communication lead them to have a big misunderstanding and a sexual tension. If they had had communicated better (and if akihiko wasn't basically drunk and was more aware of what he was doing of course) that wouldn't have happened. The story isn't exactly focusing on why people fall in love with a certain person, nor how do they confess. It focuses on the feelings after realising you are in love and how you deal with the person who also has romantic feelings for you. They can confess, they can go out. But even when you love someone back, you may not have the same idea of a relationship as them. As for Ugetsu and Akihiko, they deeply loved each other and they quickly started dating when they figured they were feeling the same thing. But they missed the opportunity to express clearly what they were looking from each other, in a relationship. That lead them to break up because of Ugetsu's hard love for music.

Love according to Kizu

This is typically what I love in given. They do have the basic musts of a couple that we already know. Kizu doesn't need such a process to show how people fall in love and I believe there's no reason to fall in love irl. You don't love someone because they helped you doing something, they impressed you, they are beautiful... You just love someone for who they are. No one can explain that objectively. That's what I (partly) learnt from given. Kizu just says "see, those two are in love. how are they going to deal with that? are they compatible? will this love help them to become better people?" And she shows us different situations, depending on the personality and on the context of the characters' love for each other.

Shizu and Hiiragi (my favs aaaah)

For example, Shizu and Hiiragi didn't imagine love the same way at all. While Hiiragi had an innocent vision of love with "holding hands" and hanging out together (he read too much cute shojo manga lol), Shizu was dealing with his sexual attraction for him, restricting himself so Hiiragi could enjoy their times together. Though, while restricting so much without saying it properly to Hiiragi who clearly is an egocentric and who thinks everyone thinks the same way as him (i love him i swear he's my fav), Shizu got angry and even thought that Hiiragi was in love with Yuki. Hiiragi and Shizu both love each other from the start but this lack of communication and those different ways to see love makes it so much more difficult to just date suddenly.

Don't get me wrong, I love the process of two characters falling in love like in Kaguya-sama wa kokurasetai, or Fruits Basket but I think that being aware of the other's love for us isn't enough to start dating. Establishing the rules and clear up the misunderstandings before starting to date is important and very interesting to read in a manga.

that's all I don't know how to conclude haha bye <3

#given #given manga #given movie #kaguya love is war #akiharu #shizusumi yagi #hiiragi kashima #given anime #akihiko kaji #haruki nakayama #i can't believe i wrote this #english isn't my first language

[sharonisthebettercarter]

UMMMMMMMM...

so... i wrote another thing.

inspired by this beautiful amazing incredible wonderful awesome gorgeous lovely terrific fantastic fabulous super cool masterful art piece linked below~<3<3<3

by @darunyama

go like the pic and support this lovely amazing beautiful wonderful incredible awesome terrific gorgeous fantastic fabulous super cool masterful artist<3

they say a picture's worth a thousand words... WHOLLY DISAGREE--

these were worth SO MUCH fucking MOAR~<3

;)))))))))))))))))))))));))));)))))))))))))))));))))))))));))))))))))))))))))))));)));));)))))))))))))))));)));))))))))))))));))))))))));))))));)))))))));))))))))))))))))))))))))));)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))));)))))))));)));)));))))))))))))))))))));))));))))))))))))))))));)))))))))));)))))))))))))));))))));))))))));)));)))));))));)))))))));)))))))))))))))));)))))))))))));)))))));)))))))))))))))))));))))

lmao i'm so sorry boo, i just could not for the life of me get this one outta my head, so after much internal struggle and mild laziness~ my hands just got to work and birthed the monstrosity above (do hope you at least like it tho<3)

thanks so SO much for arting~<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

#butchlander #homelander #the boys #billy butcher #mpreg #fanfic #the boys fanfic #my fanfiction #inspired by #amazing artist #amazing art #the boys fanart #THANK YOU FOR ARTING~<3! #seriously #go support them<3 #the 5 essential b's #this was a long time comin' #i can't believe i wrote this #yes i can #i'm trash #lmao #BRUH #my darling you have BEWITCHED my soul and i am forever in your debt i-- #let it be known that THIS is what happens when you infect and inspire my dumbass brain...

[acacia-may]

There Is Happiness (OMORI Kelbrey Fanfiction)

Description: Aubrey hadn’t always been this way. She could still remember a younger, less jaded version of herself who was actually excited about the idea of prom. A happier Aubrey who had used to giggle with Mari over the gowns in store catalogs and dream about all of her friends getting dressed up and going dancing together one day. A more innocent Aubrey who used to spend hours making plans for a future that would never get to happen. Her friends never got to go to a prom, and neither did she…Until now that is...

OR

Nearly a decade after the bad ending of OMORI, Kel and Hero plan a fake "prom" to surprise Sally, drudging up bittersweet memories for Aubrey about her friends--both the ones she had lost and, especially, the ones, who like her, had been left behind to pick up the pieces. Will confronting the past lead her to a brighter future?

Kelbrey Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, & How Their (Functional) Relationship Developed Over Time After the Bad Ending of OMORI. (Note: This is a standalone one shot that is a completely different bad end AU than my other really angsty bad end AU fic).

Relationships: KELBREY (Romantic Kel x Aubrey) CENTRIC (Functional, Healthy, Slow Burn Kelbrey). There are also important platonic friendships discussed & depicted in flashbacks: Aubrey & Hero & Kel friendship, Aubrey & Kel & Sally friendship, Aubrey & Mari friendship, Aubrey & Kel & Sunny & Basil & Hero & Mari friendship [Aubrey & Kel's friendships with Basil, Sunny, & Mari are a recurring & important theme]. Past Romantic Hero x Mari is referenced/heavily implied.

Characters: Aubrey (POV Character), Kel, Hero, Sally, and Mari (Sunny & Basil also appear briefly and are mentioned).

Genre: Slow Burn Romance, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Developing Romance Through the Years, Angst With A Hopeful Ending, Post-Bad Ending, Many Flashback Sequences, Prom

Word Count: 12,748

Rating: T for some heavy themes and thematic elements (i.e. grief & healing from grief and trauma. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death & Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues including depression & suicide).

Warnings: Major Spoilers for OMORI! Heavy themes and thematic elements (i.e. grief & healing from grief and trauma. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death & Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues including depression & suicide). Kissing.

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another website.

A/N: Unfortunately, I missed Kelbrey Week because I did not know the ship even existed at the time (and had never played OMORI back in the dark ages of a couple of months ago), but I saw the prompts on Tumblr and was really inspired by the Prom prompt. Not only did the idea of "Kelbrey Prom" get a bunch of wheels turning in my brain, it also just so happened to be the prompt on my birthday, so I felt like it was it was just meant to be and I needed to write this story as soon as I had the idea. So I just wanted to offer a word of many, many thanks to @kelbreyweek for the prompt & inspiration for this story. 💕

Story below the cut. Thank you for reading!

Aubrey slammed her foot on the brake. She had lived in Faraway Town her whole life and still forgot about that stop sign. She probably always would.

The intersection was bustling today, and there was far more traffic than usual for a Saturday night. Aubrey supposed that was to be expected seeing as it was their local high school’s prom tonight, and the streets and sidewalks were filled with gussied-up teenagers in suits and poofy, colorful dresses. Aubrey rolled her eyes, conveniently ignoring the fact that she was in a pink prom dress herself—but at the very least it wasn’t that poofy.

Aubrey didn’t understand all the prom hype, especially now that she was trying to drive with teens darting in and out of the road and the straps of her dress uncomfortably digging into her arms whenever she tried to turn her steering wheel. She sighed. She sounded like such a grouchy old woman.

She hadn’t always been like that. The memories were hazy now, but she could still remember a younger less weathered, less jaded version of herself who was actually excited about the idea of prom.

*-*-*

“They’re so lucky,” sighed Aubrey glancing up from her pizza to watch the group of teenagers who had just walked into Gino’s dressed up in their finest suits and prettiest dresses for the prom.

Mari chuckled but patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. That’ll be you too soon enough.”

“It’ll be you sooner,” Aubrey insisted with a widening smile. “You’ll get to go in just a couple of years, right?” She paused, then giggled teasingly. “With Hero.”

Hero’s face flushed, and he grew suddenly interested in his piece of pizza. Mari’s expression softened—something affectionate passing over her eyes as she chuckled at him behind her hand. She shrugged her shoulders then teased, “I don’t know. I might have to think about it,” but she winked at him and the blush in his cheeks deepened.

“Why do you even need a date to the prom anyway? Can’t you just go with your friends?” asked Kel as he practically shoveled pizza into his mouth.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and huffed. “Don’t talk with food in your mouth. It’s so gross.”

“You’re gross,” bantered Kel, sticking his tongue out at her before shoving the rest of his piece of pizza into his mouth.   

Aubrey huffed again, but Hero gently interrupted changing the subject. “I think people do go to prom in groups with their friends. You don’t have to take a date like in the movies.” He paused before turning to his brother with a dry, bantering smile. “But if you want someone to take you, I’m sure Kel can.”

“No way! I’m not going to the prom with her. Basil can take her.”

“Wha—what? Why me?” stumbled Basil, bright red in the face.

“Because they always have those flower bracelets at the prom in the movies and you know all about flowers and stuff.”

“That’s called a corsage, moron,” bantered Aubrey. “And don’t worry, I’d rather go to prom with Hector than you.”

With a confused tilt of his head, Kel blinked at her. “Can we take dogs to prom? Awesome!” Kel beamed, and Aubrey rolled her eyes. “I’ll take Hector then, and Basil can take Aubrey.”

Basil’s blush deepened as he twisted his hands. “Well…um…I mean…” He paused, swallowing hard. “Well…maybe Sunny can take you…? He’s probably better at dancing.”

“Sunny will take you,” agreed Mari with a warm smile. “Won’t you, Sunny?”

Sunny pursued his lips together and pensively stared at his hands. Aubrey wasn’t sure but his face seemed a little more flushed than usual. He finally nodded briskly and quietly said, “Okay” though he wouldn’t look up from his plate.

Mari’s smile widened, and she chuckled. “See, problem solved.”

“I don’t understand why we can’t just all go to prom together,” sighed Kel. “You, me, Sunny, Basil, and Hector, and Hero and Mari too even though they’ll be older. We can all just go as friends.”

“That sounds nice,” said Sunny so quietly he was difficult to hear over the low roar and ruckus of the restaurant patrons.

“See!” exclaimed Kel triumphantly. “Sunny agrees with me. We should all just plan to go together as friends.”

“You might change your mind when you get older, Kel,” teased Hero with a dry but affectionate smile. Kel grimaced, sticking his tongue out at his older brother.

“No way!” He huffed then turned to Basil. “You think this sounds like a good idea, right Basil?”

“Wha—what? Oh…uh…yeah okay…” he stammered unsurely.

“Aubrey?”

Kel crossed his arms and glared at her, but Aubrey sighed and conceded, “Alright, but only because Sunny likes the idea. It might be nice for all of us to go as friends, but if I get a date, he’s coming with us too, okay?”

Mari started laughing behind her hand as Kel exaggeratedly rolled his eyes and huffed, “Whatever.”

*-*-*

A bittersweet smile tugged at Aubrey’s mouth. How silly they were then—how innocent. There was a pang in her chest, even now, so many years later as she remembered how they had spent hours together talking and laughing—making plans for a future that would never get to happen. She remembered how she used to giggle with Mari over the evening gowns in department store catalogs, sighing wistfully at the billboards advertising that year’s prom theme at the local high school, and dreaming of the day they’d get to go to one themselves. Aubrey’s chest ached as she sighed. Mari never got to go to a prom, and neither did she…

*-*-*

Tears prickled in Aubrey’s eyes as she glanced over the unworn prom dress still hanging up on the back of the closet door. She would probably feel better if she just shoved it into the back of her closet, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She had worked so hard for that dress—picking up extra shifts at Gino’s to afford such a luxury. She had justified it by reminding herself it was probably the only time in her life that she would get to wear such a dress, and this one was exactly what she had always dreamed: deep pink, floor-length chiffon. As soon as she saw it in the department store, a real, genuine smile had tugged at her mouth for the first time in so long that the sensation had felt almost foreign to her. And when she had finally bought the dress and tried it on for her friends to see, Charlene had quietly said she looked happy in it. She didn’t need to add that Aubrey hadn’t looked happy for a very long time.

A tear streamed down Aubrey’s cheek. She had wanted to wear that dress and go to the prom, but she just couldn’t—not today. Not now. Not without them.

Aubrey sniffled—rubbing her hand across her throbbing forehead. Her headache was so severe that she was actually starting to hear the pounding of her head. Or at least she thought she was until her mother called in a slurred, irritated voice,   

“Aubrey! Get the door.”

Aubrey quickly wiped her eyes and scurried downstairs.

“Tell them whatever they’re selling we don’t want it,” her mother added with a dismissive wave of her hand as Aubrey walked by the couch carefully tiptoeing around the empty liquor bottles which littered the ground.

Aubrey wasn’t sure who was at their front door, but she doubted a salesman would be bothering them at this time of night. Still she mumbled, “Okay” as she turned the bolts of the lock and opened the door.

“Hey, Aubrey,” said Kel with a slight wave of his hand and a friendly smile. “How’s it going?”

Aubrey could only blink at him. He was dressed in a nice, dark suit with an unexpected bright pink tie. If she had been feeling better, she probably would’ve thought of a dry quip to tease him about it but instead she just sighed, ushering him out onto the porch before her mother got irritated by the noise.

“Kel, what are you doing here?” she asked through her teeth. “Aren’t you supposed to be at prom?”

Kel shrugged. “I was there for a while, but you weren’t there so I thought I’d come check on you.”

“Sorry…”—Aubrey’s face flushed—“I tried to call you…”

“I know,” he interrupted. “I got your message. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…I…uh…wasn’t feeling up to it.” Aubrey sighed, hoping that Kel wouldn’t read too much into it.

“Oh…are you feeling sick? The pharmacy should still be open. I can run down to—”

“No, Kel,” she cut him off, placing her hand on his arm. “That is…uh…I’m fine. You should go back to the prom. I don’t want to ruin your night.”

Kel’s expression softened, and he smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. The prom was kind of boring without you anyway.” He paused. “You sure you don’t want to—?”

“Yeah,” she cut him off just a little too forcefully, trying her best to frown despite her flushed face.

“Okay…” he said quietly. “Then…do you mind if I hang out here for a little while?”

Aubrey’s face grew warm with guilt and embarrassment. Just because she had ruined her own night didn’t mean she had to ruin Kel’s as well. “You really don’t have to do that.”

“Nah. I want to. I’d rather spend tonight with you than at the dumb prom anyway.”

“Kel, I can’t let you do that,” she insisted, but he smiled at her.

“It’s just a bunch of people dancing and stuff—and sure that’s fun and all but it’s not as cool as everyone acts like it is.” He shrugged his shoulders. “They did hang all these Christmas lights from the ceiling though and that was kinda cool—since the theme is ‘A Night Under the Stars.’” Sighing, Kel took a seat on the porch—leaning back on his hands and looking up at the sky. “But there are real stars out here which are better anyway.”

“Kel…” Aubrey began to argue, but she wasn’t sure what to say. “You can’t just miss your prom.”

“Sure I can,” he shrugged with matter-of-fact nonchalance. “You are, aren’t you? And the prom always mattered way more to you. You were really looking forward to it…” Kel’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “Did someone break your heart or something so you didn’t want to come anymore?”

Aubrey stifled a breathy chuckle but shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. I wasn’t even planning on going with a date.” She paused, glancing over at Kel’s pink tie. “Won’t your date be upset that you left?”

“Oh uh…” chuckled Kel awkwardly, fidgeting with his tie. “I didn’t go with one.”

“Really?” The question slipped out before Aubrey could think to stop it, but Kel just shrugged his shoulders.

“Yep.” He paused and sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “To tell you the truth, I—I kind of wanted to ask this one girl, but it didn’t work out. Oh well…”

Aubrey paused. While he was one of her best friends, they never really discussed their love lives or lack thereof. She didn’t even know Kel was romantically interested in anyone and couldn’t even begin to guess who it was. She supposed it was none of her business, but if Kel had left prom early because of this girl rather than just to check on her, it would certainly help her feel better about things.

“Is she the reason you left?” asked Aubrey taking a seat next to him on the porch.

Kel froze, and his cheeks flushed. “Wha—what?” he stumbled, more awkward than she ever would’ve expected from the happy-go-lucky Kel. He chuckled lightly but didn’t say no.

“It’s okay if she is. I wasn’t going to tease you or anything. I just—” She stopped. “I just don’t want to you miss out,” she said in a shaky voice. “Especially not because of me.”

“I already said don’t worry about it. I’d rather spend prom night with you, even if we don’t actually go to the prom.” Aubrey’s mouth twitched, she could almost hear the smile in his voice, but she frowned with a heavy sigh.

“But you already missed the last one…”

“Because Basil—” Kel’s voice cracked. He didn’t finish that statement, but he didn’t have to. Basil had died just a few weeks before their Junior Prom and the last thing either of them had wanted to do was go to some big party, especially one that Basil should have been attending himself, and instead they had spent prom night at the spot in the park where they had always had picnics with their friends, then sitting around Kel’s kitchen table looking through Basil’s old photo albums.

Aubrey had never told Kel that she had been considering skipping prom months before Basil’s death anyway, too saddened by the idea of having to go without Sunny and of Mari having never been able to go to hers. Basil’s death and the note he left behind for them was the final straw. She wouldn’t have blamed Kel if he had still wanted to go himself, but he had told her he was just too sad. She could understand that. Back then, it really felt like neither of them would ever be happy again.

But this year… she had been so determined, so set on going and trying to have to good time because she knew her friends wouldn’t want her to miss out on it on their account. Aubrey’s insides twisted, and her eyes burned, tears prickling behind them again.

“Aubrey?” When she turned to look at him, the faint flush of red had faded from his cheeks and his expression had softened but a look of concern quickly passed over his eyes. “Have you been crying?”

Aubrey’s face grew hot, and she swallowed hard as she frantically swiped at her eyes again. How red and puffy were they that Kel had noticed? “You can’t just ask someone that, Kel,” she replied with a shaky, bantering huff, but Kel only blinked at her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, and Aubrey bit her lip. She couldn’t believe him—skipping over the ‘are you sure you’re okay?’ questions and straight to the ‘do you want to talk?’ Aubrey sighed though she felt a blush fill her cheeks and she fidgeted. She should probably expect it by now, given how many deep conversations she and Kel had been having over the past two years ever since Sunny and Basil had passed away. Her chest ached at the thought. Kel was giving her that look now—like he could see right through her, knew something was wrong and knew she was hurting even if she didn’t have the words to say it. She could see his pain too—that hollowness that crept into his smiles, that bittersweet sadness in his eyes. Kel’s eyes reflected the same pain that ached in her chest whenever she thought of Mari or Sunny or Basil. She was sure he could see his own grief in her as well, and perhaps that’s what had led them to find each other in the first place, in the wake of the loss of their friends—clinging to each other like two lost souls, sharing things with each other they could never even begin to tell anyone else.

“You can talk to me,” he gently encouraged her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Aubrey took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she wanted to unpack this, and she certainly didn’t want to dump it all onto Kel. She already felt guilty enough that he had left the prom to check up on her. But the look on Kel’s face was so warm and so kind, and the words, the painful truth was eating away at her waiting to be told to someone.

“You remember how we’d all promised we’d go to prom together someday?”

Kel’s brow furrowed. “Not really, but my memories of everyone are getting fuzzy…” There was a painful sadness cutting through his words as he said them.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t a big moment or anything. We were just at Gino’s joking around about it once, after a group of teenagers dressed for prom came in.” She paused. “You said you wanted to bring your dog.”

“Oh yeah…” said Kel with the slight twitch of a smile. “I remember that now. Mari was teasing Hero about taking her someday, and Sunny agreed with me that it would be nice if all of us could go together as friends.” Sighing, Kel paused—something bittersweet passing over his eyes. “You’re sad you couldn’t go with them, aren’t you?”

It wasn’t really a question.

Aubrey sniffled and nodded, and Kel cut her off reaching out to her. “Oh Aubrey, I…”

“It’s not just that. I was actually planning on going. I wanted to go. I bought a dress and everything. I knew it was going to be a hard day, but I was determined to do this. I knew they wouldn’t want me to miss out—would’ve wanted to me to go, even if I was sad they couldn’t be there with me.” Her voice cracked, and Kel nodded solemnly, understandingly.

“But…but…” she stumbled over her words as her eyes burned. “I was out of hairspray and knew I needed some for tonight, so I was riding my bike down to The Other Mart, and I saw there was a group of kids in the park and…” The tears started to pool in Aubrey’s eyes, and she took a deep, shaky breath, barely managing to choke out, “They were making flower crowns…”

She swiped at the tears that began to splash down her cheeks as she stumbled in the bits and pieces of sentences she could manage despite the panging ache in her chest, “I just—I just froze. I…I couldn’t stop thinking about…I turned around and came straight home and I just haven’t been able to stop crying…” She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “I know it’s so silly…to let something like that ruin my whole day, especially when it’s the prom, but I just started thinking about them and how they never got to go to prom and all the things they never got to do and will never get to do and…” Her voice trailed, as her words got choked by a sob in the back of her throat.

“I know,” sighed Kel quietly, giving her a reassuring pat on the back and pulling her into a hug. Aubrey took a few deep shaky breaths as she pressed her chin to Kel’s shoulder.

“It’s so stupid…” she mumbled, angry with herself as she pulled away from him.

“It’s not stupid at all.” He sighed heavily. “You know the other day I was supposed to be picking up a couple of groceries for my mom, and I was in that aisle in The Other Mart where they keep all the soups and sauces and stuff, and there was this lady there with her kids and the one kid dropped this big jar of spaghetti sauce—made a huge mess”—he paused as his breath hitched—”And I remembered that time we all tried to make spaghetti to surprise Hero, and I dropped the jar on the counter and the sauce splattered everywhere—it got in Basil’s hair and… Sunny was blinking at me with sauce all over his face and you were so mad but Mari just laughed…” He paused, swallowing hard. “It was like I couldn’t breathe. I ran out of there—totally forgot about the groceries.”

“Kel…” Aubrey began as she hugged him more tightly.

“I guess the moral of the story is neither one of us should be going shopping at the Other Mart, huh?” Kel chuckled lightly, but he sniffled and Aubrey could feel his shoulders trembling like he was trying not to cry.

They just sat there holding each other for a long time. No words were spoken, but they didn’t have to be. They understood—shared this pain of being the ones left behind. Kel sniffled, and Aubrey wondered if he was crying. It wouldn’t be the first time he had cried in front of her, and she knew—they both probably knew—that it wouldn’t be the last.

“You know, sometimes I think, I’m okay,” Kel managed in a wavering voice. “I still miss them, of course, but I’m not going to just start crying in the grocery store…but then…something like that happens and I just…I don’t know if I’m ever going to be okay. Like there was this whole life that I had before, but it’s all over and now I have this new life and even if things get better and it doesn’t hurt as much all the time, that sadness is always going to be there. There’s always going to be something missing, and I’m never going to not miss them.”

Aubrey sniffled and pulled away from him to look in his face, but that deep, indescribable pain in his misty eyes made her forget her words. She supposed it didn’t really matter. There was nothing she could possibly say that would make him feel better—she knew that better than anyone.

“Sorry,” he said hurriedly as he wiped his tears away. “I didn’t mean to make this about me. I feel really bad for dumping all that on you, especially when you were already upset.”

“No. I’m…I’m glad you told me, Kel,” she said hugging him again. “It’s…nice to know I’m not the only one…”

“You’re definitely not the only one—but it really does feel like you and me against the world sometimes, right?”

A kind, bittersweet smile pulled at the corners of Aubrey’s mouth as Kel wrapped an arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“Hero too, but…” Kel paused, fidgeting. Aubrey nodded in understanding. He didn’t have to explain. She knew Hero worried especially about his younger brother which made it more difficult to open up to him about all of this sometimes, plus he was away at school and neither one of them wanted to bother him, especially when he was suffering a lot on his own.

“He missed his prom, too, didn’t he?” asked Aubrey quietly, changing the subject. Kel hummed, and she could feel him nod in response.

“But it’s overrated anyway…”

*-*-*

Kel was probably right, and the prom was overrated. That didn’t mean that she didn’t have the occasional regret about not going to hers, however. It wasn’t something she ever really talked about, but if she didn’t know better she would have thought that the fact she had skipped out on hers was part of the reason that Kel had invited her over tonight for the “prom” he and Hero had been putting together to surprise their younger sister, Sally.

Even though Sally was far too young to go to a prom, she was fairly vocal about the fact that she desperately wanted to. Though Aubrey thought it was a little odd to throw a prom for a little kid, she supposed there was no harm to it, and it was sweet that Hero and Kel were always trying to do such nice things for their little sister. She had also offered to help put it all together though she reminded Kel that she had never actually been to a prom so what would she possibly know about it? He said it wasn’t anything too fancy, but still insisted they should all dress up nicely. Just luckily Aubrey had had her unused prom dress from her own senior prom still hanging up in the back of her closet collecting dust. She supposed it was nice to finally get the chance to wear it, even if that meant getting stuck in stop-and-go traffic for half an hour.

Aubrey sighed. There was never any traffic on the way to prom in the movies. The people just got into their car—or their limo—and whipped right to the school without another car on the road. It was more than little unfair. Though she supposed she should know better than thinking of movies, especially teen rom coms, as real life.

*-*-*

“Okay, okay. I know we watch this movie every year, but I still don’t understand: can everybody at this school afford a limo? And where do the limos go when they’re all at prom?” asked Kel between bites of what had to be his third or fourth piece of birthday cake. Hero had been apologizing profusely for the fact it was store bought this year, but they understood he was extremely busy in medical school. They tried to reassure him that Mari would understand too, but Aubrey wasn’t sure if he had believed them. “How do all the limos even fit in the parking lot?”

“I don’t know, Kel,” Aubrey sighed, setting her piece of cake on the coffee table. “Just don’t think about it too much.”

“Listen, I went to prom—well part of it, and nobody came in a limo. Nobody,” Kel insisted forcefully, gesturing emphatically at her with his fork and flinging cake and frosting onto her face.

Aubrey huffed. “Kel!”

“Oh, you’ve got something on your nose,” he teased before playing poking at it with his finger.

“Here’s some napkins,” said Hero, handing her a stack of napkins with that said ‘Happy Birthday’ surrounded by balloons.

“Thank you.” Aubrey nodded at Hero then rolled her eyes at Kel shaking her head, but his attention was transfixed on the movie again, probably still wondering about the limos.

Aubrey sighed. Every year they watched Mari’s favorite movie for her birthday, and every year Kel found something else about it that didn’t make sense to him. Last year, it was how nobody in the school had worn anything even close to the same outfit. The year before that it was how the main character who was supposed to be smart hadn’t ever questioned her love interest’s obviously complicated motivations in asking her to the prom in the first place. This year it was the limos.

Aubrey sometimes wondered if Kel had only started this tradition of chattering away during the movie in the hopes that it would keep her and Hero’s spirits up and prevent them from being too sad that Mari wasn’t there to celebrate her birthday with them. But other times—like now, when she watched him pick up his piece of cake with his hands and shove it into his mouth as the icing squished into his face, she thought it was probably more likely that it was just Kel being Kel.

A smile tugged her lips in spite of herself, but she pushed the thought away. She’d never admit that she was glad Kel was around to ask dumb questions about the movie, and as she watched the small smile in the corners of Hero’s mouth, she was sure he felt the same way.

When the credits began to roll, Hero started cleaning up the cake, plates, and napkins, and Kel started prattling away again. “Why do movies make prom into such a big deal, anyway? They act like it’s the most important thing that will ever happen to you.”

“Well…” Hero sighed, his brow furrowing thoughtfully. “I think they need a climatic moment for the story, and when the characters are teenagers, they can’t have a wedding or something like that so they use the prom.”

“It’s really not as cool as all that though. I was honestly kind of let down.” Kel’s mouth curved into a teasing, lopsided grin before he chuckled, seemingly getting distracted once again by his cake. “This cake was great, by the way!”

“You can thank Aubrey for that. She picked it up from Nona’s.”

Aubrey shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I was in there anyway.” She stopped, not quite ready to admit that she was in that bakery a lot. It was one of her favorite places in their college town, and she liked to treat herself with a pastry every now and again after exams, if she did well on them of course.

“Sorry I couldn’t make one this year…” Hero apologized again with red, apologetic cheeks. “Neuroanatomy is just kicking my tushie.”

Aubrey and Kel broke into raucous laughter. “Your tushie? Really, Hero?” teased Kel.  

“What are you—five?” Aubrey bantered.

“You know what I mean,” sighed Hero. Though his cheeks were flushed, he was smiling in spite of himself. “Medical school is hard.” He sighed again. “I’m sure Aubrey understands being in nursing and all.”

“I’m glad I’m going to be a nurse and not a doctor—there’s too much memorizing. I’m not smart enough for that.”

“Don’t say that, Aubrey,” chimed Kel. “You and Hero are both super smart—you know all kinds of medical stuff. I could never do what you do.”

“Well I’m sure neither of us could ever do what you do either, Kel,” Aubrey insisted, and Hero nodded in agreement. “You can fix anything, and I wouldn’t even know what to do with a welding torch if my life depended on it.”

Kel chuckled his face brightening. “I can show you sometime if you want. It’s really not that hard.”

“Says the ‘Welder of the Year,’” bantered Aubrey.  

“It was only ‘of the month,’ and…”  

“I still have the newsletter hanging up on our refrigerator,” interjected Hero with a proud smile. Kel scratched the back of his neck as his face flushed.

“You can take that down, you know? It’s really not that big of a deal…” He sighed. “I only fix engines and stuff. I don’t save lives or anything like you guys.”

Aubrey sighed, shaking her head. “I’ve never saved a life.”

“I’ve barely even left my classroom,” said Hero. “So you’ve at least got one up on me. You’re in clinicals now, aren’t you?”

Aubrey nodded. “Yeah. I’m trying to get a job as a student nurse too. I just interviewed in behavioral health and psychiatry.”

She stopped abruptly as Kel and Hero’s eyes widened, a certain sadness in them that Aubrey had used to see all the time but which hadn’t been in their expressions in a while. A silence spread through the room, and Aubrey sighed, wishing she hadn’t mentioned it. She was about to apologize for bringing it up and ruining the mood of everyone’s evening, but then she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and a gentle hand patting her back.

“That’s great, Aubrey,” said Kel with a kind smile and soft expression. “I hope you get it and help a lot of people.”

“Me too,” said Hero. “I think you’ll be great at that.”

“Thanks,” Aubrey mumbled, her face feeling suddenly warm.

“Well, I think this deserves a toast.” Kel stood up from his seat and poured some cups of coffee from the coffee maker for them.

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at him. “We’re toasting coffee?”

“Yes,” he answered, completely unphased as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He held up his coffee cup. “To Aubrey, soon to be ‘World’s Greatest Nurse.’”

He winked at her, and Aubrey shook her head but bantered, holding up her own cup, “And to Kel—Welder of the Year,”

“Would you stop it with that?” he teased under his breath as a flush of red filled his cheeks. He shook his head and turned to Hero. “And to Hero—who can do anything!”

“And everything,” added Aubrey as Hero turned away from them blushing a bright red.

“You guys…” he mumbled.

“And let’s toast Mari too,” said Kel. “Happy Birthday, Mari!”

“Happy Birthday, Mari,” Hero and Aubrey replied with kind, bittersweet smiles.

As they took sips of their coffee, Aubrey’s lips puckered, and her face contorted as she resisted the urge to spit hers out. Even Hero grimaced.

“What in the world is this, Kel?” She reached for her water to try to rinse out the taste.

“Oh you’re never gonna believe it, but Orange Joe makes ground coffee now.”

“Why?” groaned Aubrey.

“You really should warn us first,” Hero quipped dryly with a slight smile, but Kel just shrugged.

“What? I thought it was pretty good.”

“I don’t know how you drink this garbage. It tastes like rotten oranges,” Aubrey bantered. “It would’ve been better if we toasted with broccoli juice or something.”

“I have some soda in the pantry. Let’s just use that.” Hero, always the peace-maker, got up from his seat and made his way to the kitchen with a gentle smile. Once he was gone, Kel finished off his cup of coffee and turned to her with a soft expression in his eyes.

“Hey Aubrey?”

“Yeah?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“I think it’s really great that you want to be a psych nurse and everything.”

Aubrey sighed. “I don’t know if it’ll work out, Kel. I mean I just interviewed so…”

“It’ll work out,” he cut her off with a reassuring smile. “I know it will, and when it does, I know you’re gonna be great. I…”—he paused and glanced away from her—"I think you’re really great—at everything.”

Aubrey’s cheeks grew warm from the compliment. “Thank you, Kel. I think you’re—”

She didn’t get to finish that thought, however, as Kel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an unexpected but welcomed hug. Aubrey pressed her chin to his shoulder and gave him a pat on the back. She waited for him to let go of her, but he held her far longer than usual.

Finally, he whispered so quietly she almost couldn’t hear him. “Do a good job, okay? For all of us…”

Aubrey nodded. She contemplated pulling away from him, but he ran his hand through the ends of her long hair mumbling, “And Aubrey…Uh…I was wondering…”

“Yeah?” she shivered, in spite of herself.

“Uh…” he began again, and she could feel his hands begin to shake as they gently held onto her.

“Do you want diet or regular? I also have a few cherry—” Hero’s voice stopped abruptly. “Oh sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Kel and Aubrey quickly pulled away from each other. Aubrey could only hope she wasn’t blushing as much as she feared. Her cheeks burned, but she and Kel hurriedly talked over each other, reassuring Hero it was fine, and he wasn’t interrupting anything. Aubrey’s head reeled, but Kel seemed completely unphased, politely declining Hero’s soda and pouring himself another cup of Orange Joe.

As Kel stood up from his seat beside her on the sofa, Aubrey could have sworn that Hero shot her a knowing, somewhat teasing smile that made her stomach twist. She bit her lip and tried her best to push the thought away—nervously, reaching for her coffee cup in an attempt at nonchalance and unfortunately failing to remembered it was still full of Orange Joe until she had actually taken a sip. Aubrey grimaced at the bitter taste, but her cheeks burned as she watched Hero’s mouth twitched in the corners at her.

*-*-*

Aubrey wished she could say that was the last time she ever accidentally tried Orange Joe. It wasn’t, but both her and Hero did get much better at predicting whether or not Kel was trying to pawn the drink off onto them. It had a distinctively putrid citrusy odor that, eventually, made it much easier to identify. If she knew Kel, there would probably be a whole pitcher full of it at the “prom” he was putting together even though Hero had insisted multiple times that Sally was much too young for coffee.

It was nice to hear that Hero was going to get to come tonight, too. He had been so busy with his residency that they didn’t get to see too much of them these days. Even Kel who was his roommate said he was lucky if he occasionally managed to catch Hero as he was heading to the hospital when Kel himself was getting home from his third shift at the manufacturing plant where he worked. Hero promised them that he was happy, just very busy, and they respected his need for rest, even if it was starting to feel a little bit like her and Kel against the world again.

That reminded her, she ought to give him a call about the traffic—letting him know she was going to be late.

“Hey Kel,” she began, but his voice, muffled and staticky from what Aubrey presumed was a bad connection, cut her off.

“Hi Aubrey. What’s up?”

“Well, I’m on my way, but I’m stuck in traffic. You would not believe how many cars are out here right now.” Aubrey sighed wearily. “On their way to prom probably”

“Have you seen any limos?”

Aubrey laughed. “No, Kel. No limos. I really don’t think we even have those in Faraway Town.”

“That’s probably true.” He chuckled before changing the subject. “It’s no big deal if you’re late or anything. Just drive safely, and you can let yourself in through the fence to the backyard.”

“Oh, are you having it outside?”

Kel hummed. “Yeah, it was such a nice night that I thought it would be fun to dance out on the porch and stuff. I’ve been practicing my dancing, and I think I’m a lot better than the last time you danced with me so…”

Aubrey’s face grew suddenly hot, but she took a deep breath, trying and failing not to think of the last night Kel had danced with her…

*-*-*

“Okay, explain to me again how you came to win dancing lessons?” quipped Aubrey, quirking an eyebrow at Kel, but he merely shrugged at her.

“Well I bought a bunch of raffle tickets because I wanted this ceramic chicken.” He paused before adding hurriedly with a sheepish smile, “And, you know, to support the hospital and everything too.”

Aubrey sighed and shook her head, but Kel didn’t seem to notice. It was very nice of Kel to come with her to her hospital’s charity benefit. They were raising money to build a new wing which would mean more beds in the juvenile behavioral health ward where she worked as a nurse. She had told Kel that the gala was mostly for the really big donors, and she was just inviting him for his company so he shouldn’t feel obligated to donate anything. Even so, it was sweet of him to try to buy some raffle tickets for some of the less expensive items.

A smile twitched in the corners of her mouth. It was just like Kel to do something thoughtful like that—especially for a dumb reason like wanting a ceramic chicken he could probably buy for himself half-as-cheap at a local home goods store.

“I was going to put all the tickets in the drawing for the basket with the chicken,” Kel prattled on. “But then some of the other people were giving me these weird looks, so I started to put them in the drawing for some of the other raffle baskets too, and I guess I won the one with the dancing lessons.” With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Kel frowned disappointedly. “Didn’t win the chicken though. I was pretty bummed about that.”

“What would you even do with a ceramic chicken?” Aubrey teased dryly.

“I don’t know, but I’d probably get more use out of it than dance lessons.”

A chuckle escaped Aubrey’s mouth as she barely stifled a laugh—turning back to the stove where she was frying some potatoes as they waited for the lasagna they were making for dinner to be finished cooking in the oven. It wouldn’t be nearly as good as Hero’s, but he was far too busy with his residency to cook for even himself these days. They were making this meal to surprise him when he got home and to celebrate his first weekend off in months.

“Do you want to take them with me?” asked Kel as he absent-mindedly stirred the pudding they were making for dessert.

Aubrey tilted her head at him. “The dance lessons?”

“Yeah. It’s for two people, and I didn’t really know who else to bring.”

“What about Hero?” She didn’t realize how silly that suggestion sounded until Kel laughed.

“Hero is a great dancer already, and he’s super busy right now anyway.”

With a conceding shrug of her shoulders, Aubrey sighed. “Isn’t there someone else you’d rather bring, Kel?”

“Nope,” he replied immediately, clearly not understanding the meaning behind her words. “Why would there be?”

“Well…you know…some people think that dancing can have a more romantic connotation, so I was just thinking that if you were interested in someone you might want to bring…” Her voice trailed as she tilted her head confused and inquisitively at the unreadable expression on Kel’s face.

“Oh…uh…well…” Kel chuckled though he rubbed his hand sheepishly across the back of his neck. “Actually, I’d rather take you, but if you don’t want to come, you can just say...”

“It’s fine, Kel.” With a shrug, Aubrey stared down at the potatoes, put the lid over the pan, and turned the stove down to low heat so they could simmer. Her mouth twitched into a bantering smile. “I just meant, you should probably be careful going around asking other girls to go dancing with you. They might get the wrong idea.”

“Is it really that much of a romantic thing?” asked Kel blinking at her.

Aubrey shrugged again. “It is in the movies.”

“But that’s just the movies. They make everything romantic, especially when it doesn’t have to be. Like how they always make it seem like prom is the best night of your life or when the couple dances together there one time, they’re suddenly desperately in love forever.” Kel laughed, but Aubrey frowned.

“I didn’t mean it like—” She huffed, shaking her head. “And what would you know about prom anyway, you barely even went to ours?”

“I went to enough of it to know that it wasn’t super magical or anything, and yeah, I danced with a few girls, but it’s not like I’m just pining for them forever now.” Kel paused, chuckling to himself, and Aubrey’s face flushed but her brow furrowed. Was he making fun of her?

“That’s not the same thing. For some girls it’s different. They romanticize it in their heads”—she sighed—“not me but…”

“That’s because you’re a cynic,” teased Kel.

“And you’re a moron—especially if you think that another girl wouldn’t take your invitation to dancing lessons in a romantic way.”

Kel just shrugged and admitted, “I don’t get it.”

“Well…what if you had danced with that girl, the one you actually wanted to take as your prom date? Don’t you think that would’ve been special?”

“I didn’t get to dance with her—ever actually, but I don’t think it would’ve changed anything. A dance is just dance, isn’t it?” He tilted his head as a bantering smile tugged at his lips. “You’re acting like if I just started dancing with you right now, you’d—?”

“K—Kel?” Aubrey’s breath hitched as he slipped his arms around her waist. “What are you doing?”

“Proving a point,” he insisted with a shrug.

Aubrey huffed. “There isn’t even any music.”

“Oh.” Kel absentmindedly tilted his head before pulling out his phone, presumably choosing a song to play. As the song’s intro began to play, he set his phone on the counter and held out his hand to her.

“Can I have this dance?” he asked with a playfully melodramatic bow, and Aubrey sighed with a somewhat affectionate roll of her eyes.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Whatever will get you to focus on cooking again.”

Kel smiled brightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist again. As he met her eyes, she looked away abruptly—clearing her throat as she snaked her arms around his neck. He was so close to her. Her cheeks felt warm, and she swallowed hard, pushing the thought away. ‘It’s just Kel,’ she reminded herself.

He began swaying—Aubrey shook her head—off tempo with the music. “You really can use those dance lessons,” she teased though there was a certain, uncharacteristic shakiness that seeped into her words. She pursed her lips and mentally kicked herself. What was wrong with her all of a sudden?

She could almost feel Kel’s chuckle reverberating in his chest. “Yeah, well I guess it’s good I won them then.” He smiled at her, and as he met her eyes, Aubrey shuddered in spite of herself.

Kel pulled her closer to him—almost pressing his cheek against hers and began to quietly sing along to the music. Aubrey’s face flushed. Knowing Kel he probably wasn’t even aware that he was singing, but she could feel his warm breath, those affectionate words almost whispered in her ear. For the life of her she couldn’t even begin to guess why Kel had picked what was probably one of the most romantic songs in the universe. The slow crooning of the melody alone screamed romance, but there was so much devotion, so much longing in the lyrics—and to hear them in Kel’s voice... Aubrey inhaled sharply—hoping her face wasn’t nearly as red as she feared.

“How”—her voice hitched, and she pulled away from him—“How do you even know this song?”

Kel just shrugged. “Hero showed it to me. He likes all those old songs, you know? And I thought it would be good for this.” He paused. “Why? Do you like it?”

“It’s fine,” shrugged Aubrey though she found she couldn’t look at Kel for some reason.

When she finally met his gaze again, there was something so warm, so gentle in his expression, and his dark eyes seemed to glisten with an emotion that she couldn’t begin to describe but which made her heart pound all the same. He lifted his hand from her waist and gently pressed his palm to her cheek.

“If this was a movie, this is probably the point when I’d say something corny like…” Kel paused, blinking at her with heavy-lidded eyes before he continued with a gentle sincerity that made her breath catch in her throat, ”‘You are so beautiful.’” He stroked her cheek with his thumb, and as his eyes fluttered closed, he sighed, “‘I’ve wanted this for a long time.’”

Aubrey swallowed hard. She tried to frown even though she was sure her face was bright red from that…that pining underscoring his voice. ‘This is just a game,’ she reminded herself—one that Kel seemed to be getting extremely into, but a game all the same. Still... the way his voice faltered, the earnestness in his eyes made it easy to forget.

“You’ve been watching too many romance movies with Hero…” she quipped, but her voice wavered.

Kel chuckled lightly. “Maybe…”

His hand softly stroked the side of her cheek until the tips of his long fingers began to tangle in her hair. She shivered as she took a long, shaky breath. His lips parted slightly as his mouth relaxed. She bit her lip and watched as Kel did the same.

“Aubrey…” he whispered as she tangled her trembling hand in the hair at the nape of his neck and gently pulled him towards her in slow, deliberate movements that didn’t feel like her own. His long, dark eyelashes fluttered. He was close enough to her now that she could almost feel them against her skin.

Her heart pounded. Her hands shook. He hovered in front of her mere inches away from her face. When he whispered her name again, she realized they had stopped dancing.

As Kel’s eyes fluttered closed, he tilted his head and cupped her face with his hands. His breath was warm against her skin, so close Aubrey could almost taste the coffee and citrus lingering from that awful Orange Joe he loved so much. As she began to lean closer to him, her hand curled around the unruly strands of his hair, and she pressed her palm to the back of his head—pulling him in. Closer. Closer.

He began to lean forward. That space between them was almost non-existent now. Aubrey froze—unable to move, unable to breath. Her heartbeat raced, and she could almost feel Kel’s heart pounding as he stopped, a breath away from her. She gripped the soft fabric of his shirt and shut her eyes tightly. Waiting. Waiting until…

BEEP! BEEP! The sound of the oven timer rang through the living room. Aubrey exhaled deeply though her cheeks flushed. What had just happened?

Kel startled, pulling away from her abruptly. “Oh! The lasagna!” he exclaimed with a bright smile, seemingly, completely unphased by what had just happened, by the fact that they had almost…

Aubrey inhaled sharply, then took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She bit down hard on her lip. It was just a game to him. Of course it was.

“Alright fine, Kel…” she laughed it off with as much of a frown as she could muster as the music stopped. Her racing heartbeat and wavering tone of voice didn’t seemed to get the memo, however. “You’re right.”

His face beamed. “Seriously?” He chuckled, playfully poking her in the arm. “See, I told you that you didn’t miss out on anything at the prom.”

Aubrey sighed—willing that blush she could still feel in her face away. “Yeah… It’s just a dance—nothing necessarily romantic about that. But you know I agreed with you from the beginning, right? So don’t get too excited about it. I just meant a lot of other girls might get the wrong impression.” ‘Especially if you dance with them like that,’ she mentally added, barely managing to stop herself before the words tumbled out of her mouth.

“Yeah, alright. You know, honestly, I actually kinda see your point now too.” Kel tilted his head and chuckled breathily though his expression was unreadable. Aubrey’s heart raced in spite of herself as she tried to push these thoughts, these feelings, whatever they were away for good.

*-*-*

Aubrey let out a long and heavy sigh. She could feel the blush in her cheeks even now just thinking about it. She hadn’t done a very good job of pushing the memory away. Even though they had never talked about that dance, about that almost-kiss ever again, Aubrey had mulled it over in her mind more times than she could count, until she could almost believe that she had been imagining things, that she had just gotten caught up in the music and dancing and that nothing had actually almost happened. But…—Aubrey sighed—the way he had looked at her…

She swallowed hard and pushed the thought away. This was Kel. Kel—dopey, happy-go-lucky Kel who used to eat spray cheese directly out of the can until she and Hero staged an intervention to ask him to stop and who once got a popsicle stick stuck up his nose because he wanted to see if he could touch his brain with it. Granted he was seven at the time, but still… this was Kel, and Kel was…was…

Aubrey sighed. Kel was sweet and thoughtful. He’d do anything to make his friends and family happy, and he loved making people laugh. He could make friends anywhere he went, and he always found things to smile about. And yeah, he could be awkward sometimes, airheaded, oblivious, and occasionally stubborn, but he had a big heart and even if his words didn’t always come out the way he wanted them to, she never doubted how much he cared. He was a great friend—her best friend, probably if she was being honest, but she wasn’t about to waste another minute of her life sitting around analyzing whether she may or may not have almost kissed him once. And she especially wasn’t going to sit around analyzing whether or not she should have or, worst of all, whether she had wanted to.

“You will dance with me again, won’t you?” asked Kel’s voice through the phone. “I gave those dancing lessons to my parents as a gift, but Hero was helping me practice a little bit, so I think I’ve gotten a lot better.”

“Uh…yeah…sure Kel…” stumbled Aubrey trying her best not to think anything of it.

“Okay, great! I’ve got to go now, but I’ll see you soon, okay? Bye.”

“…Bye…” mumbled Aubrey. She let out a long and heavy sigh, shaking her head and mentally kicking herself for getting so flustered about Kel of all people. It was nothing, clearly…given the way he could mention it so nonchalantly like that. She should just stop thinking about it and worrying that it was something that it wasn’t.

She pushed the thought away—trying her best to think about something else, anything else. What was everyone going to wear tonight? Sally would probably look adorable all dressed up in party dress or a costume if she wanted to be an actual princess—though Aubrey supposed Kel had specifically used the word “prom” rather than “ball” so Sally might not want a princess dress. Would Kel and Hero go all out and rent tuxes or just wear nice suits? Maybe Kel would bring back that bright pink tie from their prom…

Aubrey stopped. That tie. She hadn’t thought about it in years until it got brought up a couple of weeks ago when she and Kel were going shopping at the outlet mall with Sally.

*-*-*

“They’re so pretty,” Sally sighed wistfully with a little twirl as they passed some of the clothing racks filled with sparkly prom dresses. “I can’t wait ‘til I’m old enough to go to the prom.” She giggled and squeezed Aubrey’s hand. “What was it like? Did you get to wear a pretty dress like that, Aubbie?”

Aubrey smiled. Sally had given her that nickname years ago when she was a little toddler who struggled with her “r”s, and it made it happy to think that it had somehow stuck all these years. Her smile quickly faded however, as she awkwardly replied, “Well…Sally…I didn’t actually go to my prom.”

“Oh…” Sally’s eyes widened sadly, and she tilted her head. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” she reassured her, giving her a gentle smile and a reassuring pat on the head. “Your brother went though—to part of it. He wore this bright pink tie.”

Kel laughed and playfully poked her in the arm. “You remember my tie?”

Aubrey’s face flushed, but she bantered. “It was kind of hard to forget. Why’d you pick a color like that anyway?”

“Oh uh…” Chuckling, he scratched the back of his neck. “I never told you?”

“No…” Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at him, but Sally giggled.

“I wanna hear about it.”

“Well, okay, just for you Sally,” Kel’s expression softened, but he shrugged his shoulders. “But I’m warning you, it’s…kind of silly now that I’m thinking about it…” He sighed. “There was this girl…She was really amazing. I wanted to ask her to prom, but I was really afraid she would say ‘no’ so I kind of chickened out. But she really liked pink so…I thought maybe she’d like that pink tie. Kind of silly, right?” He laughed it off, but his cheeks flushed.

“Did she like it?” asked Sally, curiously blinking up at her older brother.

Kel’s mouth curved into a smile, and—Aubrey blushed—she could have almost sworn he glanced over at her when he said, “Yeah. I think she did…”

“You know, you never told me—that girl, did she go with someone else?” The question slipped out before Aubrey could stop it. She had spent years wondering, worrying if she had ruined Kel’s prom with her own problems or if he was nursing a broken heart of his own that had nothing to do with her grief. It was probably selfish to be bringing it up now after all these years, but she couldn’t give up the opportunity to find out for sure if Kel would have left the prom early anyway, even if she had been there.

“Nope,” Kel shook his head with a sigh, and Aubrey swallowed hard.

“Did you get to dance with her, then?”

A smile twitched in the corners of Kel’s mouth—something unreadable but undeniably affectionate flashing across his eyes. “Eventually…”

“Was she a good dancer?” giggled Sally.

“Better than me.” Kel shrugged, but he reached out to take Sally’s hand and gave his sister a little twirl. “But I am getting better.”

He flashed Aubrey a teasing smile, and she shook her head at him as she stifled a laugh. She knew it was a sign that this conversation was over, but it nagged at the back of her brain for the rest of the day as they absentmindedly wandered from store to store, eventually stopping for soft pretzels at the food court and surprising Sally with a bright yellow bow for her hair. There was no more talk of prom.

When it started storming, they decided to call it a day and headed back to Faraway Town. It wasn’t long before Sally fell asleep in the back seat of her car, exhausted from the long and exciting day of shopping. Aubrey dreaded the silence left by the absence of Sally and Kel’s cheerful prattling, but she was grateful for the opportunity to focus on driving rather than on mulling Kel’s words over in her head. That guilt she had been feeling ever since he had had to skip out on their prom on her account was suddenly fresh again, gnawing at her, getting harder and harder to push away.

“Hey…uh…Aubrey? Are you okay?” asked Kel quietly enough so as not to wake up the napping Sally. “You’ve been kind of quiet…”

“Well Sally’s asleep Kel,” she replied with a tilt of her head as she glanced in her rearview mirror.

“Yeah, but I meant before that…Ever since we were in that department store…”

Aubrey took a deep breath and tried to muster a, “Yeah…I’m just…”

She stopped abruptly. Even if she didn’t take her eyes off the road, she could almost picture Kel’s reassuring smile, encouraging her that she could tell him anything. Maybe it would be best to ask him now when she didn’t have to look in his face...

Before she could decide, however, she pulled into the driveway of Kel’s parents’ house. Grabbing a nearby umbrella, Kel got out of the car and gently lifted a sleeping Sally, draping his jacket over her head so her face wouldn’t get wet from his attempts to carry her and the umbrella.

Kel fidgeted until he was shielding Sally completely with the umbrella, getting himself soaked in the process. Aubrey sighed and shook her head with a somewhat affectionate smile. He was going to be sopping wet by the time he got back to the car, but if Aubrey was being honest, she didn’t mind. It was sweet how much Kel cared about his sister. Aubrey supposed that was really just Kel—he always thought about everybody else and how to make them happy. He’d give a stranger his umbrella if they needed it, even if that meant he’d get himself soaked. It was something Aubrey admired most about him.

Her face felt suddenly warm, and she pushed the thought away, watching as Kel handed Sally off to his mom on the porch. She gave Aubrey a bright smile and a cheerful wave as Kel rushed back across yard. Aubrey waved back.

Sure enough, when Kel got back inside the car, he was dripping water. He ran his hand through his sopping hair.

“Sorry, Aubrey. I’ll clean it up when you drop me off,” he insisted with a sheepish smile, but Aubrey waved her hand.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just water.”

Chuckling, Kel’s mouth twitched into a lopsided grin, and he shrugged his shoulders, “Okay, now that Sally’s inside…what’s up? Something’s bugging you.”

“I’m fine,” Aubrey said, but she knew Kel knew her too well to believe that.

He sighed, a look of concern passing over his eyes. “Are you sure? Is it something I said…?”

“No…” She bit her lip. “It’s not you. It’s just…”

“You’ll feel better if you just tell me. I know you will,” he teased with a kind smile.

Aubrey huffed. He was right, of course, but she didn’t really want to admit that.

“Why did you leave our prom?”

Kel’s brow furrowed, and his eyes widened in confusion. “What?”

“You know…was it for that girl you wanted to take but didn’t end up asking or was it for…?” She stopped and cleared her throat.

“Well…actually…” Kel stumbled, his face flushing. Aubrey sighed guiltily. She didn’t mean to fluster him like this—it wasn’t fair.

“I just…I know it’s none of my business, and I feel bad asking but I just don’t want to be reason that you had to skip out on our prom, you know? So if you left because you were heartbroken or…”

“Oh,” Kel interrupted. Clearing his throat, he rubbed his hand across the nape of his neck. “Uh…I wasn’t heartbroken or anything, but…yeah, I did leave because of that girl—the one I wanted to ask…”

Aubrey sighed. She didn’t feel as relieved to hear this as she had always imagined she would. She felt almost…sad…

“Do you regret it?” she asked quietly, staring at her hands. “Leaving her there at the prom?”

“What?”

“You know, you could’ve stayed. You didn’t have to miss out on it, especially not to just waste the whole night sitting on my porch…” She cleared her throat though she twisted her hands around the steering wheel, staring intently at the swaying windshield wipers. “Do you ever wish that…things had been different?”

“I mean…I guess sometimes, maybe, but only to wish that you had been there and that everyone had been there to come with us.” Sighing bittersweetly, Kel paused. “Why? Do you?”

Aubrey sighed, adjusting her grip on the steering wheel even though the car was still parked. “Sometimes…” she admitted. “But for the same reason as you, I guess, and…” Her voice trailed, and she could feel Kel shift next to her.

“And what?”

“I’ve just…” Her face flushed as she took a deep breath. “I always felt guilty for making you miss it. I really am sorry about that.”

Kel chuckled lightly and placed his hand on her shoulder until she turned to look at him. “Aubrey, don’t worry about it. I already told you. I wanted to spend it with you.”

His smile was warm, and the look in his eyes was so tender that Aubrey’s hands began to shake as her cheeks blushed rose. She turned away from him, and he shrugged his shoulders and admitted, “I think about that night a lot, actually…in a good way. I don’t have regrets.”

He gently pushed a piece of hair out of her face, and Aubrey shivered but not from the cold and wet of the rain on his fingers. “Aubrey, I…There’s actually…” He stopped and pulled his hand away from her abruptly as water began to drip into her face. “Oh shoot. I’m sorry,” he stumbled, panicking over the damp streaks in her hair.

“It’s okay, Kel…” Aubrey sighed—politely failing to mention that his panicking over dripping water everywhere was just spraying water and making everything wetter. “Let’s just…get you home.”

“Okay…” Kel nodded, but his face was flushed. Aubrey was sure hers was bright red. She could only hope he wouldn’t notice.

*-*-*

Taking a deep breath, Aubrey parked her car on the street in front of Kel’s house. This was probably the worst possible thing she could have been thinking of right now. Why did she do this to herself?

She sighed heavily, burying her face in her hands before she composed herself, pushing all those thoughts away. She didn’t even know where they were coming from, and even if she did, now was definitely not the time to be thinking about any of that. She could almost guarantee that Kel certainly wasn’t. There was no way he was sitting around wondering what would have happened if the timer hadn’t gone off when they were dancing or if water hadn’t started to drip into her face when he was running his hand through her hair. These were just things Kel did without thinking—it didn’t mean anything more to him than that they were just friends, so why should it mean anything more to her? And…perhaps more importantly, why would she even want it to? Why would she want affection for him that would never be returned?  

Her shoes clicked across the pavement as she made her way down the sidewalk and up the driveway to the house where Kel lived with his brother, at least until Hero finished his final year of residency and paid off enough student loans to afford his own place. There was the faint sound of music echoing from the backyard and lights shimmering from what she assumed was probably their decorated porch. As soon as she walked through the gate to the yard, however, she realized she was wrong. There was a beautiful trellis canopy covered in Christmas lights with twinkling icicle lights hanging from the ceiling—underneath it was Hero’s record player, playing classic love songs.

Aubrey froze just staring at it—how it beautiful it was. She didn’t even notice Kel until he chuckled beside her.  

“Aubrey, you made it!” He paused, his expression softening. “You look beautiful. I’m glad I finally got to see your prom dress.”

Aubrey’s face flushed, and she curled her toes in her shoes both at the compliment,  and at the fact that Kel didn’t look too shabby himself dressed in his dark suit with combed hair and shiny dress shoes. “You look nice too, Kel. I see you’re wearing that tie—” she tried to tease him, but her voice cracked. Kel, however, just chuckled lightly.

“Oh yeah…well, you know…” With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he paused fidgeting with the bright pink tie around his neck. “Do you like it?”

Aubrey somehow managed a playful roll of her eyes. “It’s great, Kel.”

“I got you this,” he exclaimed excitedly, holding out a plastic container with a corsage inside.

“Wow, thank you,” she stumbled as he helped her slip it onto her wrist. “You really did go all out, huh?”

Kel hummed and nodded enthusiastically, but Aubrey’s brow furrowed as she glanced around. “So, uh…where are Hero and Sally?”

A faint flush of rose filled Kel’s cheeks. “Oh. Uh…well…about that. They’re not here.”

“Why not?”

“It wasn’t really a lie,” he tripped over his words. “I was just trying to surprise you, but I…I didn’t do this for Sally…”

As he met her eyes, Aubrey shivered and swallowed hard. Kel chuckled sheepishly. “I knew you were kind of upset that you missed your prom, and so I thought I’d make you your own prom. Surprise!”

Aubrey looked around the yard—at the twinkling lights, the trellis, Hero’s record player, then at Kel, all dressed up in his best suit with his pink tie, the kindest look in his eyes and the brightest, beaming smile on his face.

“You...”—she inhaled sharply—“You did all this…for me?”

“Yeah…Is it overboard? I was worried it might be a little overboard.”

Aubrey could scarcely put coherent sentences together—her head was spinning. Kel…Kel had done all of this…for her…? “Why?”

“Why?” Kel repeated with wide eyes. “Well…because it’s a lot…with the music and the fancy clothes and the decorations…”

“No, uh—” she stumbled. “Why did you do this for me, Kel?”

“Oh…well I thought you were upset about our prom ever since we went to the outlet mall, and I thought maybe a ‘do-over’ prom would make you happy.”

Aubrey’s blush deepened as she stared down at her feet. “You…you really didn’t have to do this Kel. Especially since I’m the one who basically ruined your prom in the first place.”

“Aubrey…” He pressed his palm to her cheek—smiling, waiting until she finally looked up at him. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time. You didn’t ruin my prom—not at all. I wanted to spend it with you. I know I probably should’ve just asked you, but I don’t know, I was just…I had never felt so close to anybody in my whole life, and I thought you were so amazing, I didn’t know what to do with myself…” He paused, chuckling awkwardly with a sheepish shrug of his shoulders.

“Wait…you…you…” she stammered trying to make sense of what she was hearing. He couldn’t have possibly just said…? “You wanted to take me to our prom? I’m the girl?”

Kel’s cheeks blushed red, but he nodded. “You’re the girl.” Aubrey could only blink at him as he chuckled lightly, awkwardly again and joked as he fidgeted with his hands, “You know…if this was a movie, this is probably the part where I’d say something really corny like ‘You’ve always been the girl.’”

As he met her eyes, Aubrey froze. His words may have been corny, but the look in his eyes was so sincere, so…affectionate. She swallowed hard—sure her face must be bright red by now, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t think. She tried her best to take a deep breath and shakily tease him but her voice was wavering, breathy—it almost didn’t sound like her. “Yeah…that’s—that’s really corny…”

“Yeah, I’m no Hero…” Kel chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I’m really not good at any of this stuff…” He bit his lip and looked back up at her with a gaze that made her shiver. “But I really do think you’re great—probably the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I’m sorry for not saying it before.”

“Kel, I…” Her voice hitched. “I had no idea you felt this way…”

“That’s okay,” shrugged Kel. “To be honest, I didn’t even know I felt this way for a long time. It took me a while to figure it out…I was just kind of dense, I guess.” He laughed with a sheepish grin. “When I finally mentioned it to Hero, he gave me this look like ‘it’s about time…’ Then he was the one who was really encouraging me to tell you, but I just never really could figure out how and…then I was worried I was going to mess up our friendship and I didn’t want to make things awkward…But I guess this is kinda awkward, huh? All the movies make it look so easy…”

Aubrey blushed. If one of them should be feeling dense right now, it really should be her. Kel was…Was he really…?

“Listen, uh…you’re really quiet right now. You don’t have to say anything. We can just pretend that I never said anything,” he began to ramble quickly, nervously. “I didn’t want to put you on the spot, I just—I thought that was something you should probably know about me, er, about you, er how I feel about you because I—I really like you and I think you are really great and if you ever talk to me again after this, I would really like to take you to dinner and…”

Aubrey could only blink at him, unable to get a word in edgewise as he let out a long heavy sigh. “And I am totally messing this up…” Sighing heavily again, he ran his hand through his hair, before he met her eyes. “Aubrey…I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be…” Aubrey interrupted, reaching up to stroke Kel’s cheek with her hand. “I know it’s not an easy thing to say…”

“No, but you don’t understand. I tried to practice and everything. I was going to say all kinds of really nice stuff like that you’re probably the most important person in the world to me, and I don’t know what I’d do without you. After Mari and Sunny and Basil…”—his voice hitched—”Things were so dark and so sad…it was probably one of the worst times in my life, and I felt so alone, but then, you found me…and you showed me that even if this world without them is always going to be a little sadder than it was, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still good things in it too. And a lot of those good things were because of you—when we tease each other and we’re throwing popcorn at each other or I’m wiping frosting on your nose or splashing water at you at the beach—when we laugh about corny movies or dance in the kitchen or when we just talk for hours and completely forget about the time…or when your face turns all red when you’re trying not to smile or the way your nose wrinkles when you laugh. And you”—he cupped her face in his hands—“You’re the best thing.”

“Kel—I…I…” Aubrey began to trip over her words, unsure what she even wanted to say.

Kel sighed, his face blushing red as he pulled his hands away from her, and mumbled, “I don’t even know if that makes sense…”

“No, it…it does,” Aubrey said with a reassuring smile. “I…I completely…” She stopped. “Back then, I…I never thought I could ever be happy again, but you showed me I could be, that there’s still…happiness…” Her voice trailed, but Kel wrapped his arms around her and pulled into a tight hug.  

“Aubrey…I’m…I’m so glad…I…”—Kel’s voice hitched—“I just want you to be happy. I want you to be so, so happy. I just never thought I’d ever be lucky enough that you could be happy with me.”

“I am happy, Kel,” Aubrey whispered, unable to think, unable to breath. Something she couldn’t even begin to describe seemed to propel her forward—her whole body almost moving on its own as she pulled back from him just enough to close her eyes and brush her lips against his.

“A—Aubrey?” stumbled Kel with a look more akin to having been whacked on the back of the head rather than kissed.

“Kel, uh…sorry…” she began staring off over his shoulder. “I just um…”

“No, I’m sorry, I just…I wasn’t ready.” Aubrey’s eyes widened, but Kel hurriedly added, “Ready as in prepared not as in ready like I—I didn’t want…because I—I do…”

A playful smile tugged at Aubrey’s lips, but she was blushing too much to actually tease him.

“I—I…” Kel began to stumble again, and Aubrey could have sworn she heard him mumble, “Oh forget it…” under his breath before he finally just threw his arms around her neck and kissed her. His hands tangled in her hair as hers gripped the collar of his suit pulling him even closer to her. She could taste that sickeningly sweet Orange Joe on his breath, but she didn’t even care.

When they finally broke apart from each other, red-faced and breathless. Kel chuckled teasingly, “I guess I should probably ask you to dance now, huh?”

As that familiar song began to play, Kel wrapped his arms around her, and Aubrey slipped her hands around his neck. They swayed in time to the music, and neither one of them could hold back their smiles.

As Aubrey nestled into Kel’s chest, she could feel him chuckling lightly to himself.

“What?” she asked quietly.  

“Nothing it’s just…” Kel pulled away just enough to look at her and meet her eyes as his mouth twitched into a soft, playful smile. “Maybe it really is true what everyone says about prom after all…”

#kelbrey #omori baseball bat #omori baseball #baseball omori #omori kelbrey #cries about kelbrey #kelbrey prom #i want out of kelbrey hell #send help #can acacia actually write romance? let's see... #i can't believe i wrote this #omori spoilers #my omori fanfiction #thank you so much for reading

[angelosearch]

I saw someone do this in another fandom and I had to try because... these are things I think about anyway. So...

What would Final Fantasy VIII characters' Spotify Wrappeds look like?

Squall - This year is the first year Squall has a Wrapped. He didn't listen much before, but somehow, after meeting Rinoa, music just started to make sense. Still, his taste is mostly emo-boy rock. Linkin Park, blink-182, and Paramore are a few of his favorites. There is this one acoustic song that makes him think about Rinoa that he's listened to more than anything else... He doesn't share his Wrapped with anyone, but, of course, Rinoa was able to steal his phone to take a look.

Top Song - Even Now (Acoustic) by Dashboard Confessional

Rinoa - Rinoa loves high-energy music that she can dance to. Kpop, Pop, and pop that yearns to be disco. Sparklely music. Her top artists include BLACKPINK, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Dua Lipa. But her top song ended up being "Steal the Show" by Lauv. She just couldn't stop listening to it after she heard the "I'll be waiting for you" line. 

Top Song - Steal the Show by Lauv

Zell - Zell mainly listens to music when he is working out, so he sticks to stuff that is loud, fast, and motivating. He is not opposed to pop but definitely leans more to the rock side of things, with some of his top artists being The Killers, Artic Monkeys, Fall Out Boy, and even Olivia Rodrigo on occasion. His favorite band to box to by far is Dragon Force. Their tempo is perfect for it.

Top Song - My Heart will Go On by Dragon Force

Quistis - Quistis listens to more podcasts than music. However, when she does listen to music, her taste is genre-defying and very specifc. Wetleg, Bloom Twins, Rubblebucket, and girl in red are some of her top artists. She also loved the song "You'd Be Stars" by Sydney Rose. But, "Hot Shame" was such an earworm it took first place this year.

Top Song - Hot Shame by FIGHTMASTER

Selphie - Every year, Selphie's Wrapped surprises everyone. Last year it was filled with belting pop divas. The year before that, it was almost entirely metal. This year, Selphie enjoyed bopping around to Hip Hop and Rap. Juice WRLD, Lil Nas X, and Eminem dominated her Wrapped. When asked about the darkness of some of her top song's lyrics, she said, "It's fun! Like a picnic!"

Top Song - TALES OF DOMINICA by Lil Nas X

Irvine - Irvine is embarrassed to share his Wrapped. He was hoping his manly country music and classic rock would show up, but nostalgic moods led to a top five full quieter indie artists. He listened to a lot of "long-haired magic mushroom men" like Hoizer and Noah Khan. 

Top Song - Jackie and Wilson by Hoizer

Laguna - Always the cheeseball, Laguna spent a lot of time jamming out to his early-2000s soft "rock": Maroon 5, Coldplay, John Mayer, Rob Thomas and the like. But in the latter half of the year, he and Ellone started having movie nights, and the soundtracks infiltrated his Wrapped. The movies always seem to have particular themes... so "We Don't Talk About Bruno" and "Journey to the Past" both made it on his top five. 

Top Song - Journey to the Past by Christy Altomare (Anastasia)

BONUS: Cat's in the Cradle is on Laguna's top five songs as well. He keeps sending it to Squall and... well, it has 0 listens in Squall's Spotify.

#I can't believe I wrote this #Probably will delete this in the morning #but it was fun to think about #ff8 #spotify wrapped #this is almost as cringe as my squinoa playlist... #squall x rinoa #squinoa #occult fan ii content

[guiltypleasurefandomface]

Brian has a cold. Roger just happens to know how to help. This fic isn't as sexual as this description sounds, sorry!

#I have a terrible cold so it reminded me that I once wrote this #Maylor fic #I can't believe i wrote this #It's not even smut but it's still !!!! ykwim

[hertasworld]

Just some thoughts with drunk! Himeno...

Cw//nsfw, alcohol consumption. Body worshipping, nipple play, idk if i miss anything, gn! Reader

-Drunk! Himeno who tease you by touching your body, being more bold than before

-Drunk! Himeno who slowly undress you, looking at you with a lustful gaze as she worship your body

-Drunk! Himeno who play with your nipples, cupping it gently as her ears were drowned in your moans

-Drunk! Himeno who held your hands during both of your drunk fill sessions, her touch was as gentle as a soft blanket

-Drunk! Himeno who cuddle you after the sessions, not caring about how much of a mess she was

Drunk! Himeno who get pouty when you move, she tighten her hold on you, not letting you leave

Tag: @wendzychan

#drunk himeno #for my bestie #i can't believe i wrote this

[wildelydawn]

It's Not as Good as When I'm By Myself. | A KinnPorsche: the Series FanFic.

KinnPorsche Week 2022: Day Four: “You’re so sappy.” + fluff. (Fair warning: I abandon this prompt pretty quickly.)

Thank you to the people who gave me inspiration to write this. I'm not going to tag them because my head immediately went to the smut place. Sorry about that, friends. However, a very special thank you to Riehlla, who willing stayed up with me to corrupt inspire me further. You have my heart in your hands and quite possibly, my brain too.

Plot Summary:

Porchay pokes the pillow. “At least it’s soft.”

“What do you mean, ‘At least it’s soft?’” Kim demands. “Do you really think I need to use that thing?”

Porchay bites back a laugh. “If it helps you stop being so jealous, then yes.”

(Or: As a joke, Tankhun gifts Kim a body pillow with Porchay's picture on it. It has its uses.) This story is explicit.

Read the story on Ao3!

#KPWeek2022 #KP Week 2022 #KimChay #KinnPorsche #KinnPorsche FanFiction #Kim Theerapanyakul #porchay kittisawasd #KimPorchay #Myfics #My Fics #KimChay FanFic #Listen #prompts are just suggestions #I can't believe I wrote this #I can't believe the level of research went into this and I used literally none of it #goodbye friends #also I'm late womp

[huntedhealer]

Seen

I Was OK.

I was ok, being invisible.

This is life, I told myself.

Unseen but seeing. Seeing but unseen.

The loneliness became my constant companion.

After such a long time, the ache was unnoticeable.

I was ok.

I saw.

I was unseen.

Invisibility is not a super power. It is just how things have always been.

Occasionally the ache would break through, but it was nothing I couldn't manage. A few tears, squeezing myself back together.

I was ok.

Unseen...Seeing... Alone...but...

I was ok.

I WAS ok.

But then it happened.

You saw me.

You SAW me.

For days I wondered what wonderful witch craft is this?

What is happening?

High on the beauty of being seen

You saw me!

You saw me!!

Then....

The ache...

Oh the ache....

It became a searing pain.

Every instance in which I had been invisible...

Every small hurt...

They added up...

They multiplied....

They hit me with their sum of suffering.

You saw me.

You saw me, and now...

I'm not ok.

How can I be?

You saw me, and now...

I know what it's like being seen.

How can I live after this?

Knowing the aching, searing pain

Of being seen and then

Of being unseen again?

How will I survive this?

I was ok

But then you saw me.

You saw me.

I have been seen.

I want more.

I crave it.

See me.

Please, see me.

Open your eyes and see me again

The way you did before. Not physically, but soulfully,

To the colorful core of my magnificent being.

See me. Please?

Only for a moment. I won't ask for more.

Just see me

See me and it will be enough

To know that I am seen

To know that its you, seeing me.

As much as I want to touch you

As much as I want to be felt as well as seen

As much as I long to be loved by you

To be held,

I would settle for just being seen.

Just see me,

And it will be enough

To nourish my soul until the end of my days.

Let me swim in your gaze

Seeing you, seeing me...

Becoming the change we wish to be.

Copyright 2022 Hunted Healer

#spilled poems #poetry #dark #written #i wrote a thing #i can't believe i wrote this #writters on tumblr #emo aesthetic #emo kid #spiritual vibrations #poetic #poetsofinstagram #poets corner #spilled heart

[damnedtoearthnothell]

Ur bio says ur an equestrian so what breed of horse gives off specific NFL player vibes? I saw this Faroese pony with Mahomes mane and ever since I can’t stop assigning horse vibes

*rises from dead to answer this a month late*

After doing some EXTENSIVE research (debating with one of my riding friends) I have answers. Here are some of my favs (and possibly not favs) as horse breeds:

I was torn between a thoroughbred and a standardbred for Aaron Rodgers and then I had a THOUGHT. A registered black Saddlebred who’s a solid 16hh, was never trained in the gait, and used to do stadium jumping for a pro and now does dressage for an amateur with big dreams.

I chose the American Bashkir Curly/North American Curly (name is HIGHLY debated) for Mahomes. Also 16hh, this bay was brought by an ambitious pro and brought them to the highs. Curlies are a rarer breed, and even then not often seen in the show ring, but they have are very versatile and have proven themselves in the upper levels!

Travis Kelce has been assigned: the Percheron! Seventeen hands and gorgeously dappled, this draft horse has been seen at the TOP levels of combined driving with his partner, the young Creed Humphrey.

I had to, of course, assign the classic thoroughbred (one of my personal favorite breeds) to someone, and then I had to pick multiple. Because honestly, which NFL position does the Thoroughbred fit better than the runningback, although it's easily applied to the Wide Reciever position. Strong, fast, and powerful… and easily injured, I assign the thoroughbred to players such as Christian McCaffret, Austin Ekler, and Saquon Barkley. And with recievers I’d assign it to Randall Cobb, Devante Parker, and Sammy Watkins, among others.

And now Joe Burrow. I knew I had to include him for the clicks, as much as I pray he retires tomorrow. After much debate, I eventually settled on the Irish Sport Horse with a little thoroughbred heritage. 16.2 hands, bay, and gorgeous, this horse excells in eventing! He’s barreled through the lower levels and now is ready to win a 5* event.

#i’m such a nerd #i can't believe i wrote this #Ayo send NFL players you want me to describe as horse breeds

[salmadurka]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Sandman (TV 2022) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dream of the Endless & Hob Gadling Characters: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, Hob Gadling Additional Tags: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus Acts Like a Cat, meowpheus, Cat!Morpheus, Inspired by Fanart, No Beta, we die like Hob Gadling doesn't, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Platonic Relationships, Friendship, but can be read as pre-ship, Fluff, POV Multiple, Cat Dream of the Endless | Morpheus Summary:

Hob sighs, content to see the cat there and closes his eyes, ready to fall asleep again. He is not quite willing to wake up fully just yet.

But then it hits him.

He doesn’t have a cat.

#mine #writing #The Sandman #Dream of the Endless #Hob Gadling #cat!dream #inspired by fanart #I Can't Believe I Wrote This

[itsactuallycorrine]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kate Fuller/Seth Gecko Characters: Kate Fuller, Seth Gecko, Richard Gecko Additional Tags: Under-negotiated Kink, Breeding Kink, Creampie, Unsafe Sex, Pregnancy, Fast and Loose Kink Practices, Established Relationship, Post-Canon, Porn with Feelings Summary:

A joke makes Kate wants to try something new with Seth

#seth x kate #sethkate #seth gecko #kate fuller #from dusk till dawn #non fdtd mutuals: please do not perceive me #i can't believe i wrote this #but THIS is the wip i meant to work on this weekend so #yay for me

[deerdens]

He can’t do this. He’s too tired for this, too old, he cannot be talking a horny teenager down from fucking him just because she’s finally hit her rebellious streak and he happens to be the only living man in her vicinity.

//

After they burn down the moonshine shack, Beth decides she's not done with their little drinking game. But much to Daryl's chagrin (or maybe not), things very quickly take a decidedly risqué turn.

#bethyl #beth x daryl #daryl x beth #bethyl fanfiction #bethyl smut #my writing #i can't believe i wrote this